


An "Act" of Love ;)

by Keysstylus



Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: A little bit of angst, Alternate Universe - Actors, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Behind the scenes hijinks, Dana Terrace ships lumity, Depends on How I'm Feeling, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Hurt/Comfort, OCs are antagonists, Slow Burn, Sometimes OOC, Toxic Friendships, Toxic fanbases, celebrities and the media, fanart for the fanfic, lots of interaction outside of filming, no beta we die like men, second half is angstier
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-04
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:20:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 33
Words: 135,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26279329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Keysstylus/pseuds/Keysstylus
Summary: Luz Noceda is an aspiring actor. She turned to homeschooling at 13 to pursue acting and by 16 she got her first big gig in a new live-action Disney Channel show called The Owl House. She meets the crew, makes friends, creates a group chat for all the actors, deals with social media backlash as well as having her own fandom. Inside jokes are made, bloopers reels are made too often, and Dana Terrace, the director, catches onto a certain ship. Things don't get cut from the final product and mishaps happen! Basically everyone is having a good time! Everyone is super happy! They just want to become famous actors! What could go wrong?-There will be references to other fanfics, fanart, and The Owl House twitter fandom jokes if I get permission by all those people. This is my project while I wait for season 2. I hope you all enjoy! (Previously titled "The Owl House - Actor AU (S1)"
Relationships: Amity Blight/Luz Noceda, Boscha/Willow Park, Eda Clawthorne/Camilia Noceda, Emira Blight/Viney
Comments: 642
Kudos: 2068





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Luz needs some milk and meets a certain somebody.  
> -  
> I am so excited to share this idea on here. This is my first fanfic so if you have any critique feel free to leave it in the comments at the end of the chapter. Enjoy!

Luz stared intently at her phone. She could almost hear the mundane tik… tok… tik… tok… of her phone’s digital clock. Except, it was digital so it wouldn’t make a noise. Luz pondered to herself about this for a few seconds, the weird and redundant thought distracting her from the butterflies in her stomach for only a moment. She jumped at the low vibration of her phone. Someone was calling her. Luz almost couldn’t contain her excitement! She picked up the phone right away, standing up in her chair dramatically. Before she could answer, however, she took a deep breath. This was it. Someone was calling her. Well, she couldn’t deny it… Dana Terrace was calling her. Dana Terrace, the director of the new Disney show that would be Luz’s debut as an actor. Luz focused back on the phone, trying not to hold her breath and doing a terrible job at it. She picked up the call.

“...Hello?” Luz said cautiously. Trying not to get her hopes up. An excited and surprisingly positive voice responded.

“Hi! Is this Luz Noceda? I hope I’m saying that correctly.”

Luz chuckled, her nervousness going away a bit. “Actually, you said it pretty spot on.” She smiled to herself. In her head, she was trying to stay positive. That’s what her mother, Camilia, always loved about her. Her mom taught her how to reassure herself and how to be motivated and positive with even the toughest challenges in life. Challenges like this phone call she’s having right now that could possibly change her life for the better.

“Oh thank god! Anyways, this is Dana Terrace. As you may know, I am the director of The Owl House on Disney Channel. I wanted to congratulate you on getting the part! We will hold our first meeting just so everyone can meet each other and we can read of a few lines to get a good idea of everyone’s characters. Are you free this Saturday?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Please come to- oh sorry do you have something to write this down on?”

“Uh hold on, sorry”

“No worries.”

Luz scrambled to find a pen and a piece of paper. It seemed like nowadays everyone was using their phones to jot things down. She almost felt like an idiot for not being more prepared. Although, Mrs. Terrace seemed like a forgiving and friendly person so Luz sighed and got back to looking. She finally found one and made sure Dana was still on the line. She wouldn’t want to miss this opportunity.

“Got it!”

“Awesome, okay the address is…”

Luz wrote down the address quickly and thanked Dana. Luz couldn’t believe it. At only 16 she was going to act in an actual TV show! It was always her dream. She was never super great at school. After a while, she made a compromise with her mom and decided to pursue acting. She felt like it was her only creative outlet that allowed her to be wild and crazy freely. She was bursting with excitement as she realized her dream was coming true. Someday she was going to be like those famous Hollywood actors in the big movies. Not going to lie, she felt it would be funny meeting those actors knowing she had definitely written and read fanfiction of their characters before. Back to the call.

“No problem Luz. It’ll be great to have you on set. As you probably already know, you’ll be playing more of a background character in the first few episodes so don’t stress too much. You’ll do great! See you there!”

The call ended, leaving Luz with her thoughts. She reminded herself that even if she was only playing a background character this time, it’s still good experience, and she’s lucky to have even been included. Luz smiled and looked through her phone for her mom’s contact. Hopefully, her mom wasn’t too busy at the hospital. Luz clicked on her mom’s phone number and let it ring. Her smile faltered when she heard the familiar sound of her mother’s voicemail. She heard a beep and decided to leave a message.

“Hi mom, good news! I got the part! I’m only a background character but it’s a start. Hopefully, we can go out to celebrate tonight. Te quiero, mamá.”

Luz ended the voicemail and stuck her phone in her pocket. She went to the kitchen to find a snack to eat. Sometimes when you get super nervous you get the munchies. She opened one of the cabinets smiling at the sight of cereal. She didn’t really understand why but there was something oddly satisfying about cereal. Choosing some cinnamon toast crunch, she closed the cabinet and set the box of cereal to the side. Next was milk. She opened the refrigerator and was disappointed to see that there was barely enough milk for her cereal. Sadly she closed the refrigerator and texted her mom telling her she was going to the store. 

She lived in a lesser-known part of LA where everyone knew everyone. She loved seeing her neighbors all down the street and at the grocery store. It was like having family around. Luz grabbed her bag and headed for the door, making sure to lock it once she was outside. Because she has been taking care of the house and her mom hasn’t been home much, she couldn’t drive yet, so she walked, enjoying the peaceful silence of this part of LA. She waved to a few people she knew and gave some dogs some great belly rubs. Luz liked to be around people and it seemed they liked to be around her just as much. Her mom wasn’t lying when she said Luz was the light of her life.

Finally, Luz made it to the store. It was only about a 20-minute walk away from where she lived. Walking everywhere definitely gave her good leg strength but her “weak nerd arms”, as she called them, could barely lift her backpack full of textbooks when she was still in school. Thank god she didn’t have to deal with that anymore. Too bad it was free exercise… and free torture. Looking around the grocery store she found the dairy section. She groaned when she saw they were out of soy milk. Since she was lactose intolerant she could only drink soy milk. It always ticked her off and felt like the universe cursed her from being able to enjoy the wonders of dairy products happily. 

As she was going to look around and see if someone misplaced a carton a hand reached past her and suddenly there was a carton of soy milk. She sighed in relief slightly wondering why that person put it back. She grabbed it after the person let go and turned to look at them. Whoever they were, it was already hard to see their face since they were wearing sunglasses and a mask. What was really distinctive however was the bright auburn brown hair that was half up half down. Luz wondered how a natural hair color could look so pretty. Luz loved dyed hair too but there was something so peaceful about natural hair. Her thoughts were interrupted however by the stranger almost being hit by another person running through the store. Luz instinctively grabbed the stranger’s hands to keep them from hitting the runner. The stranger looked at Luz and muttered a thank you from under her mask. However, Luz couldn’t quite hear it.

“Uh… sorry what did you say?” Luz said awkwardly. She was responded with muffled noises. 

“You can… take off the mask you know. I don’t mind if you’re sick, well I wouldn’t want to be sick because I kind of have something important coming up. I- I mean I don’t care if you lower your mask a little bit! Sorry that was confusing. Uh… I like your hair!” Luz exclaimed in a panic. She heard some chuckles from this mysterious person as they pulled their mask down a little.

“I said thank you. For pulling me away and the compliment on my hair. Also, I’m not sick, so don’t worry.”

“Oh thank god. Well, thank you for handing over the last carton of soy milk. I don’t know what I would do without it… probably either go without milk or have diarrhea, neither of which I want. Sorry TMI.”

The girl laughed again.

“Well, then I’m glad I could save you from both those horrible fates. I have to go now, thanks for the laugh.”

The girl walked away, now no longer a stranger. Luz didn’t even know her name but could tell she wanted to be friends with her. She seemed so cool and probably around the same age as Luz too! Luz was bewildered by the girl as she watched her walk away. Luz secretly hoped they would meet again someday. She put the carton of soy milk in her shopping bag and headed to check out.

Luz came home as it was getting dark. She saw her mom’s car out front so she should be home by now. Luz smiled and ran up to the door, excited to see her mom. She knocked on the door and when her mother opened it, in a silly voice, Luz said “Hello is this Ms. Noceda? I have a special delivery of soy milk for you.”

“Eres un ganso tonto” Camilia chuckled. She always looked forward to her daughter’s bright and humorous jokes when she got home. 

“Right this way Mr. milkman. I am sure this is for my beautiful daughter who left the cereal out on the table again.”

Luz laughed nervously, breaking character to say “Sorry sorry it won’t happen again! I promise this time.”

“Mmhm sure mija. Get in here so we can have dinner and celebrate your first acting gig!”

Luz smiled and walked right inside. Together the two played games and watched movies. They talked about how excited Luz was to get in and joked about how she was going to handle fame. This was always both of their favorite part of the day. After Camilia dealt with a long day at work and Luz spent the day alone, the two could come together every night and just enjoy kicking back and having some fun.

That weekend Luz found herself rushing to the place they were going to meet. Luz didn’t anticipate how long of a walk it was going to be to get to the meeting place and so once she realized she was going to be late, she started sprinting. Finally, she had made it. Only a few minutes late too. She entered the building and found the elevator to the floor the meeting was on. Just her luck, the elevator door was starting to close. She saw another girl through the opening and called for her to hold the door as she ran over and caught it just in time.

“What floor?” the girl said.

“*pant* i think *pant* floor 4 *pant*”

“Oh me too! Are you in the cast for The Owl House too?”

Sweaty and late. Great first impression Luz. Meeting other actors already. Just perfect. Luz finally caught her breath and stood up straight. Trying to make up for her past appearance.

“Actually, yeah, I am. Only a background character though. My name is Luz. You?”

“The name’s Willow. And I think I’m a side character. I’m not quite sure. Dana was a little conservative when it came to character names. All we tried out for were descriptions of characters.”

“Oh weird. This is my first acting job so I wasn’t going for anything too big.”

“That’s a smart plan. I’m sure this will give you a good idea of what acting on set it like.”

Ding! This was their floor.

“Do you know which room we’re going to?” Luz said shyly.

“No clue. Oops.”

The two laughed at their shared mistake.

“Guess we should have paid more attention during the call”

“I know but I was just so excited!”

“Me too!”

Suddenly, they heard a voice from another room.

“Luz Noceda and Willow Park?”

The girls turned toward the voice and saw a plethora of other people, all different ages, sitting in a conference room. The people who really stuck out though were Dana Terrace, Alex Hirsch, and that girl from the grocery store. Luz could now see her face fully. She wasn’t looking at Luz or Willow but could Luz could see her pretty, almost golden eyes. Luz’s attention was snapped away by Willow ushering her into the room. They took a seat a few places away from the girl, who still hadn’t noticed Luz walked in.

“Hello everybody! For the new people, my name is Dana Terrace and I am so excited to get this show going with all of you! Alex and I are proud of the choices we made for the character, who I am sure you are wondering who they are.”

Dana and Alex smirked to each other while everyone watched in anticipation.

“The characters are you! So your names will be used for the parts. We only gave the descriptions because we wanted to make sure we were really bringing these characters to life. We wanted to find people who would match the description perfectly. We will be reading a few lines from the script for the first episode to get to know everyone. They already have your names in them so follow along and you’ll know when your lines are.” Said Alex and Dana passed out parts.

After getting everything sorted out. People began reading their lines. As Luz looked through the script she saw that she had no speaking lines. She used the time to both observe how other people acted and also if the mysterious girl from the grocery store has a main role. As she was listening to the lines and following along in her copy of the script, she chuckled at the scenes where the main character’s snake was supposed to attack the principal. Luz was excited to be a part of this show. It seemed really fun and she looked forward to seeing what it’s like on set. The plot seemed to be somewhat fantasy so she wondered how they were going to do effects and CGI to make everything look real. As she was deep in her thoughts she heard another girl cursing. She looked up and saw a girl with fairly tan skin and dirty blonde hair. She seemed frustrated.

“What.. what does this even say? I think theres a typo. It says ‘okay leendoe’? Who is leendoe?” 

She said in frustration.

“Its ‘Oh que lindo’. It’s Spanish.” Luz replied.

“Wait you want me to speak Spanish in this? I thought I was playing an American teenager? I barely know Spanish… I’m only like an eighth Spanish!”

The girl looked over at Dana and Alex.

“We can get you a tutor? Is this going to be a big issue?”

“Wait now you want me to do homework?? I-i’m sorry this just isn’t very comfortable for me. I think you should have told us who the characters were first.”

“Maybe we should have. Either way, you’re our main character. You have to do it Sophia.”

Then Luz noticed something peculiar. Sophia glanced over at the girl from the grocery store, who quickly turned her head. Sophia seemed hurt and she crossed her arms. Looking away from Dana and Alex she got up and grabbed her coat and bag.

“I don’t… I don’t think this is the role for me. Thank you for the opportunity but I should go.”

She quickly exited the room and Alex rushed after her.

“Well, that was awkward. Um, we need someone to fill her role while Alex goes and gets her. Sorry about this. Luz, can you read her lines?” said Dana nodding towards Luz.

“Oh! Um sure, yeah, totally, ha haaa” Luz said awkwardly.

The group continued where they left off. Since Alex was no longer in the room to voice King, Dana tried to do her best impression of his high pitched voice. It made Luz laugh and loosened her up a little bit. She decided to have fun with the lines and really got into character. She had seen the descriptions of the characters and she put a little bit of herself in each line she spoke. She felt it made the character come to life and seem more realistic.

Once they were done Luz realized the girl from the grocery store hadn’t said anything the whole time. She was just calmly reading over the lines and following along. She seemed so peaceful and serene. Every now and then she would catch her eye and they would awkwardly stare at each other before Luz went back to her lines. Alex finally came back, panting and sweating like Luz had been at the beginning of this whole thing.

“First *pant* she runs *pant* really fast”

“That or you run slow” said Dana, snickering at Alex.

“... I run moderately fast! *pant* ok anyways *pant* Secondly, we don’t have a main character anymore.”

“Hm well, I think Luz can take it. She’s doing pretty good already.”

“Wait.... what? Don’t we have backups? Wouldn’t that be unfair to them?”

“I mean yeah but Luz is doing a really good job already! I don’t know it feels like some greater force is telling me that she’s fit for this role. I think she could really bring life to this character Alex.”

“Well… okay then. I trust your judgment. Congratulations Luz.”

As Luz’s jaw dropped, the girl a few seats down smiled a little bit. This was going to be interesting.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I don't know how to summarize this chapter.... ummmm a little more angsty I guess? It's subtle and will come back later. Hehehe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who left kind words in the first chapter! I will most likely post in a one day or two days after kind of schedule. It takes me at least a night to write it but if i'm feeling s a d I take longer.

“Wait wait wait… I’ve never even acted before? This is my first gig!” 

Luz said half frantically half excitedly. She couldn’t believe what was happening. Suddenly her thoughts went through the roof. She was both excited for this crazy opportunity but also scared of disappointing Dana.

“Oh really? You voice-acted just now as if you were a pro! I’m sure you’ll do fine. But I don’t want to force you so if you want us to ask someone else-”

Dana was cut off when Luz stood up from her chair.

“No! No its... It’s okay! Really! I promise I’ll give it my all!”

Dana smiled at the young Latina. Her enthusiastic and positive energy radiated through the room. Some people whispered their doubts about Dana’s decision, others were excited to see how Luz will do.

Dana walked up to Luz after they had decided on their first filming day and as everyone packed up. Luz was still beaming with joy and excitement as she grabbed the script and put it in her bag, not before staring intensely at it and taking a breath. Her eyes were full of ideas and thoughts. She both wanted to be the best actor she could be for her first time on an official set, as well as scream and run around about how worried she was about doing the opposite. Dana saw this and sighed to herself. There was going to be a lot of work to do but she truly felt Luz embodied the quirks and personality of the main character so well that she might not need help. She might just have to be herself. For a new actor that should be relatively easy. Although Luz may not realize it yet. Dana put a hand on Luz’s shoulder, startling her a little.

“Didn’t mean to scare you, don’t worry. I can tell you’re nervous. I just want you to know that the crew and I are here for you. Of course, we care about making this show as good as it can be and that involves helping you be the best actor you can be! Just think of this as acting lessons. We’ll make sure to give you constructive criticism.”

Luz smiled slightly, her nerves being settled. Dana looked at her with a welcoming face.

“Thank you Ms. Terrace. I really appreciate this and I promise I’ll try to make your jobs easier.”

“My job is hard enough kiddo, don’t worry about it. And call me Dana, I don’t like being all serious. And this isn’t a super-serious show, so play around with it. Really explore your own acting style.”

“I will don’t worry. I’m gonna be the best mc you’ve ever seen!”

“That’s the attitude I like. Now, I need to ask you a quick favor.”

“Anything.”

“For the first episode, as you saw in the script, the mc’s mom has some lines and screentime. To make it feel especially real, we were wondering if your mother would be free to act a little bit in the first episode. You have a few weeks to get it sorted out and if she can’t do it that is totally fine. All up to you and your family.”

“Oh! Thank you Dana, um… I’ll think about it and talk it over with her! Great idea!”

Dana smiled and walked away. With her thoughts of being the new mc being replaced with thoughts of her mom’s busy schedule and how she can make this work, Luz started to walk out of the room. As soon as she got to the elevator, however, she heard Willow calling from behind to hold the door for her.

“Looks like our roles were reversed this time around huh?”

Willow chuckled before saying, “Weird how these things happen. Anyways, I wanted to know if you wanted to grab lunch?”

“Oh uhh I’m not sure I have enough money on me to pay for my meal, but maybe-”

“Luz you’re awfully considerate and kind but don’t worry about it. I can pay for both of us.”

“Really? Thank you Willow! I’ll make sure to pay you back, no if, ands, or buts.”

“Really don’t worry about it Luz. I’ve got you. So, where do you want to eat?”

“Ummmm, I’m not really in this part of LA that much. Do you know any good spots?”

“Well, I do know of a certain diner we could go to! They have great sandwiches and smoothies. It’s only a 10-minute walk from here.”

The elevator ding! prompted the two girls to walk out and towards the exit. They stopped on the side to let other people go through and continued their conversation.

“That sounds perfect, Willow! Do you have a favorite sandwich? Or smoothie, both are great.”

“This particular place makes a mean BLT! But I also love their grilled cheese, oh! Paired with their tomato soup makes my mouth water. And they have one of the best Philly cheesesteaks around! And you can’t forget their smoothies, their strawberry banana smoothie is delicious! They use a lot of fresh ingredients.”

“Hmm, I’ll have to look at the menu. Sounds like there’s a lot of good stuff to choose from. Anyways, we should probably head over there. I need to be home in time to talk to my mom.”

Willow and Luz exited the building and started walking down the street as they talked. The bustle of LA traffic and bikes swerving by them not distracting them at all. Different shops and stores lined the streets and in the distance, you could see the famous Spoolman diner.

“Why do you need to talk to your mom? If you don’t mind me asking. I saw you talking to Dana.”

“Oh, no worries, umm... She wanted to know if my mom is available to act a little bit in the show. The mc’s mother appears in the first episode.”

“Oh yeah, I remember that. I hope she can come if she has time! It’s always fun to act with family!”

“Have you acted with your parents before?”

“My dads are small actors in the community. They get lesser-known roles here and there but one time when I was younger, they needed me to help them on set. I got to read some lines and see my dad’s practice their craft. I think that was when I got into it myself.”

“Wow! Willow, that sounds great! What have you been doing since?”

“Same small roles and background characters like my dad’s. We like to be lowkey and participate in a lot of indie and underground films. The Owl House is going to be my step into the bigger acting world.”

“I know that you’ll do great Willow. You’re definitely going to make a name for yourself.”

“Thanks, Luz”

Willow smiled softly as the pair reached their destination. Once inside Luz noticed a certain auburn-haired girl ordering at the register. Nobody else was in line and it seemed like rush hour had already passed, so Luz snuck up behind the girl who was unknowingly and innocently taking out some money from her wallet.

“Hi, grocery girl!”

The girl yelped in surprise, dropping her money on the ground. Luz was quick to help her pick it up, her hands lightly brushing the girls as they scrambled for loose change.

“Sorry about that. Didn’t think I’d make you jump so much.”

“It’s no problem. Thank you for helping me pick stuff up. It’s good to see you too… um… soy milk girl?”

“Yeah no, that doesn’t sound right. Just call me Luz. It’s nice to formally meet you!”

Luz held out her hand for the girl to shake. Cautious at first and a little confused, the girl grabbed Luz’s hand and shook it lightly. Luz found the gesture to be cute.

“Nice to meet you too Luz, my name is-”

“Amity?” Said Willow from behind Luz.

“Willow!” Exclaimed Amity as the two reached to each other and hugged.

Luz, who thought the cautious handshake was cute, now stuffed her hands in her pockets apprehensively. She reassured herself that some people just don’t open up to people as quickly as she does. She told herself it was fine and that she wasn’t being too much.

“It’s been a while! What have you been up to?” Said Willow, still holding Amity’s hands.

“Yeah, I’m really sorry about that. My parents needed to go to China for work and so we had to move there for a few months. I lost my phone at the airport before we left.”

“Don’t your parents work with Disney? Is it a new live-action Disney princess film? Oh my god… is it Mulan???”

“Shhh don’t tell anyone! I’m supposed to keep it a secret! We just got back last week. They needed inspiration for the set design and props.”

“Is that how you got in the cast for The Owl House?”

“Sort of. Dana reached out to my parents and thought I would be a good fit for one of the characters in the show.”

Luz looked down at her feet and shuffled. Suddenly her stomach had butterflies and not the good kind. It seemed like everyone she had met so far already had connections in the acting world. How could someone like her ever be able to match their level and especially as the main character of the first show she’s ever acted for. Luz was brought out of her thoughts when she realized Willow was ordering.

“Hey, Luz! What are you gonna have? Remember, I’m paying no if, ands, or buts. Got it? Choose whatever you’d like!”

Not paying attention a whole lot and having no time to look at the menu, Luz blurted out, “I’ll have whatever Amity is having.”

“No, wait! Uhh, Luz, I don’t think you’d like what I ordered”

“I’m sure it’s good, Amity. I like a lot of different food.”

“No, it’s not that, it has feta cheese in it… and aren’t you lactose intolerant?”

“Hey, you remember!”

“How could I not, you talked about diarrhea.”

“Pft Luz, you did? I did not need to hear that.” Said Willow teasingly.

“Yeah yeah I know, that was kind of embarrassing. But hey, you saved me again from it.” Luz blushed, embarrassed.

“I guess I did. And don’t worry about it being embarrassing, I thought it was funny.”

“Well, then I guess I’ll have a BLT and a strawberry banana smoothie.”

“Good choice,” Amity said as they paid for their meal and sat down.

Luz was tapping her fingers on the table as Willow and Amity caught up. She poked the salt container a few times before knocking it over. Salt splaying across the table. Luz groaned as she cleaned up the mess with a napkin. She glanced up at Willow and Amity who were laughing to each other and talking about something related to acting. Luz felt that feeling in her chest again. Her face physically contorting, showing her worries to the two other girls at the table.

“Hey, Luz, you okay?” said Willow, reaching out and putting a hand on Luz’s.

“Yeah… sort of… not really… gah I don’t know! I know I should feel super lucky and grateful for Dana choosing me to be the mc of all people. I’m trying to stay positive! And I know that I can’t just throw away an opportunity like this. But I’m worried that my lack of experience is going to cost me this role and that Dana made the wrong decision.”

“Luz that’s all valid. It’s ok to feel anxious about it. I know I would. You can’t always be positive. Sometimes you gotta allow yourself to be worried. Being worried isn’t always a bad thing, it can motivate us to try harder and can help us be cautious instead of reckless.”

Luz sighed. “You’re right, Willow. I’m sorry for throwing this at you guys, you just met me and now I’m putting all of this out on the table.”

“Don’t apologize Luz. That’s what friends are for.”

Luz smiled at that word. She felt happy Willow considered her a friend. Amity nodded her head in agreement with Willow.

“This is your first acting job right? I wouldn’t assume you to be at all ready for being dropped into a role like this at the beginning of your career. So don’t sweat it.” Amity said.

“How did you know this was my very first acting job?”

“Well, first you said it at the meeting. Second, my family knows a lot of people in the industry and I’ve never heard your name before so I just assumed.”

“Right right. Do your parents act?”

“Oh no, they’re producers. A lot of the time they help write movie scripts and stuff. They like to be in control.”

Luz sighed again saying, “That’s another thing. I don’t have a family in the industry to learn from. Most of this is self-taught or just watching youtube.”

“We can help you, Luz. No one says you have to do this yourself.” Amity suggested. Willow nodded.

“I would be more than willing to give you a few lessons. It’s an excuse to show you different parts of LA too.”

“Thank you, Amity, Thanks, Willow. I really appreciate this. I can’t wait to work with you on set.”

“Well before being coworkers we’re friends aren’t we?” said Amity.

Luz brightened up at that. “Yeah, we are!”

Soon enough, their food came and the now trio decided to change the subject. When it was time to go, Luz, received a text from her mom.

Work is running late and they need me for some extra hours. I’ll be home later tonight, there is food in the fridge. Please don’t eat cereal for dinner again, or if you do at least put the box away when you’re done. Tenga cuidado y manténgase seguro, mija

As Luz started her journey back home, she wondered how she was going to ask her mom if she had spare time for the show. Her worries intensified as she thought about how stressed her mom must be having to work full time as a single mother. At one point Luz decided she shouldn’t try and that she’d only bother her mother.

Too bad Luz is a terrible liar when it comes to her mother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's your favorite kind of sandwich?   
> -  
> I love anything with avocado and no olives :D sorry olive lovers


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mother and daughter bonding <3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, thank you everyone so much!! We're only on chapter 3 and we already have 600 hits?? For my first fic that makes me so happy and I'm glad you guys are enjoying it! Thank you for all the kind comments! Secondly, I will be posting around evening PST for those wondering.
> 
> I hope you enjoy the chapter!

“Oh mija, can you pass me the popcorn?”

Luz handed her mom the big bowl of movie-style buttery popcorn that sat beside her, untouched. After Luz had her dinner of cereal, which she thankfully remembered to put away and leave no trace of, she and her mom sat in front of the TV, watching the live-action Beauty and the Beast movie, in their pajamas. Luz always loved how beautiful Emma Watson looked in her yellow dress and thought that the special effects gave it an especially disney-esque feeling. But this time her eyes weren’t glued to the screen. Camilia noticed her daughter boorishly looking over at the window. It was night time now and the sky was clear, extenuating the stars. Luz looked… conflicted.

“Is there something on your mind?” asked Camilia, taking hold of Luz’s hand. “You can always talk to me. You know that.

“I know mama. Something kind of crazy happened today.” Avoiding the subject at hand, Luz described how she met Willow and Amity and how lucky she was to have made friends before they even started filming. Camilia saw her daughter smile softly at the mention of this.

“Well carino, it seems like you’re having a good time. So whats got you so down?”

“I kind of… got promoted… in a way” Luz said cautiously. She took a deep breath and continued, her mother hanging onto every word. “The director made me the main character of the show.” Luz whispered.

“That’s great mija!! I’m so proud of you!” Then Camilia saw the distressed look on her daughter’s face. “What’s wrong?”

“I’ve never acted a whole lot before and I… i-i worry that I’ll disappoint Dana. It feels like a lot of pressure that I didn’t get to choose… but I also know that I can’t not do this. I talked to Willow and Amity and they said they would help me… but what if they get frustrated with me and decide I’m not worth the trouble?”

“Dana wouldn’t have made that choice if she didn’t see something in you Luz. That makes you worth it. I’m sure Willow and Amity think you’re worth it too.” Camilia didn’t see a change in expression so she tried a different approach. “Remember when you were little and you’d get worried about school? Do the same exercises we did back then, say ‘I can do this’ or ‘I get to do this’! Positive self talk!”

“Ok ok… I will.”

“No, say it out loud. It tricks your brain into thinking it’s true. Cmon, stand up, show me that power pose!”

Luz awkwardly stood up on top of her chair and put her hands on her hips. “I… can do this?”

Camilia looked up at her daughter giving her a thumbs up. “More confidence! Even if you don’t feel like it! Fake it till you make it.”

“I can do this!” Luz said, determined. Camilia beamed and pumped her fist in the air. 

“Yeah, you can!” she gave a high five to her daughter who was now feeling much better. Luz could always count on her mom to know how to make her feel better. That’s what she admired most about her mom, being able to cheer people up no matter what. She got down from her chair and sat with her legs crossed. Now, with her initial qualms settled, her brain moved on to something more.

“Uh oh, what is it mija? Am I going to have to make you stand up on the chair again?”

Luz laughed it off. “It’s… nothing really. The whole main character thing was really getting to me. Thank you, mama.”

Camilia gave Luz that I-can-totally-tell-you’re-lying look. “If you thought that was going to work then I’m surprised. I’m your mother, carino, what’s up?”

“Ummmm…” Luz rubbed the back of her neck nervously, worried about Dana’s plan not working out. “The main character’s mother appears in the first episode and they want to know if you have time to come and act. It’d be really easy, only a few scenes, and you just act as my mother so it should be easy. I’m sorry I know you’re busy-”

“Luz, I’ll just ask for time off. Don’t worry so much about it. Even if I couldn’t do it, sometimes you have to let things happen naturally. It wasn’t in your control whether or not I could attend so stop worrying so much. I’m here to support you.”

“Thank you mama.” Luz smiled, relieved she got the hard stuff over with. She let out a yawn as she looked at the clock. It was almost midnight but she didn’t care. She had nothing to do tomorrow. She made a mental note to not sleep in until 1 pm again.

“Okay mija, I think you should go to sleep now. You’ve had a long day.”

“I have, and, thank you again mama. I really don’t know what I would do without you. I’m really fortunate to have you.”

“And I’m fortunate to have a daughter who is so hardworking and bright and talented. You’re gonna do great at this whole acting thing carino, and I’ll be with you every step to support you.”

And with that, Luz told her mom goodnight and that she loved her and went to bed. She slept peacefully that night, something she didn’t expect to do after the events of her day.

  
  
  
  


A few weeks had gone by and Luz had been asking her mom if she got the time off from work to come to the set. Every time she asked she’d be met with “I don’t know yet” or “It’s too early for them to know” or “Just stay patient mija”. Luz felt that worrisome feeling bubble in her stomach again. Luckily, a few days before Luz was due to start acting for  _ The Owl House _ , Camilia got a call from her boss approving her for the time off. Luz was overjoyed. This also meant Camilia and Luz could walk to the set together. They never really opted to drive since LA traffic is terrible, even in the more secluded portion where the set was. Either way, Luz enjoyed the extra time with her mother. Luz made sure to give her tips on acting and her mother gave Luz words of encouragement. They passed by the diner Luz, Willow, and Amity ate at and Luz told her about it again.

Soon enough, they reached the set. Once they were inside, a new person Luz had never seen before greeted them. He had really short dark brown or black hair and a little bit of a goatee. He seemed very friendly although he was dressed in all black.

“Hi! You must be Luz and Ms. Noceda. My name is Spencer! Dana is talking to some of the crew so she wanted me to make sure you knew where to go”

“That was awfully nice of her! I was told I had a small part.” Camilia said as she looked at Luz fondly. The girl was brimming with excitement as she looked around at all the people bustling around. “Luz, you have my lines right?”

Luz reached into her bag and pulled out a thick pile of papers that was neatly bound together. “Got them right here! Don’t worry mama.”

“Great” Spencer said turning on his heel. “Follow me this way, we’ll be shooting the first scene soon!”

“Mija do you know what I need to do?” Camilia said holding her daughter’s hand. She felt so much pride as she realized how big it’s going to be to have her daughter at the protagonist of a Disney show.

“Yeah! So in the first few scenes, I’m in the principal’s office because my ‘book report’ caused people to get bitten by snakes. You’re telling me that basically if I don’t act normal then I have to go to a summer camp where I learn about boring stuff like mortgages.”

“And… do you?”

“No that’d be no fun. A snake bites the principal and so I have to go. You have a few lines about it and then the real fun begins! Apparently this is one of those ‘the protagonist gets stuck in another dimension and needs help from locals to get home’ kind of stories.”

“You sure know a lot about this don’t you?”

“I read fanfiction!”

“And what is that?”

As Camilia and Luz made their way to the set for the human realm, Luz explained different fanfiction tropes, what AUs were, and what shipping is.

“Wait why would anyone ship enemies to lovers?” asked Camilia, mostly intrigued but also a little concerned with how much Luz knows about these “fandoms” as she calls them.

“It’s the drama! Enemies to lovers or just rivals, in general, have so much potential growth to them and there’s always tension that fans eat up. Also, it’s fun to see two people slowly become friends and then realize their feelings for them!”

“Ah, I see. Does  _ The Owl House _ have enemies to lovers? Am I going to have to approve of a certain boy or girl who wants to steal my daughter’s heart?”

“I’m not sure, but don’t worry. It’s all acting so even if there was, it’s not real.”

Finally, they made it to the set. Luz saw a standard set up where there were three walls of a room and the camera was on the side without a wall. It looked exactly like a principal’s office and brought up memories of her own old middle school. She looked around and there were other actors getting dressed up with costume designers. One came over to Luz and her mom and ushered them to a room where they could get into clothes for the scene and for makeup and hair. Luz was amazed at this whole experience. The makeup was subtle and she actually liked her outfit! Although, she was wearing leggings under her jean shorts but that’s what you’d expect from a Disney show.

After all the makeup was done and her hair had been styled to look like a slightly outgrown pixie cut, Luz made her way to set. She had been practicing her lines for weeks so they were basically ingrained in her head. While she waited for cameras and lighting to get adjusted she saw Willow and Amity off to the side talking.

“Hey! Amity! Willow!”

The two turned to look at Luz and their faces lit up. They ran over to Luz, being careful not to trip on cords or knock over equipment, and greeted her with a hug. They seemed to be in regular clothing so Luz felt a little awkward in her outfit.

“Are you guys filming today?” Luz asked them.

“Not today. You’ll know when though since you’ll be with us Miss protagonist.” Willow said, winking.

“Willow and I’s characters actually debut in the same episode. I think it’s episode three right?” Amity said, looking over to Willow.

“Yeah it’s called ‘I Was A Teenage Abomination’” 

Luz laughed a bit. “Yep, that sounds accurate.”

“Oh, no, an Abomination apparently is magic! They’re gonna use special effects!” Said Willow.

“Oh is it like fireballs and stuff?” Luz asked.

“No, it’s more like muddy goop in the form of weird monsters. But the base of it is gonna be people in full-body green suits. And then they’ll add effects in editing.” Amity said, clearly knowing a lot about episodes Luz didn’t have a clue about.

“So I don’t have to deal with muddy goop?” Willow and Amity gave each other a look and started laughing a bit.

“I think you’re one of the only people who  _ has _ to deal with it. In the episode, you’re pretending to be Willows abomination so you cover yourself in goop.”

“Aw ewww. Dang it! Well, I’ll make sure to spread the love to you two when we film together.”

Dana had finally entered the set to start filming and so Willow and Amity had to leave. They waved goodbye as Dana explained the premise of how Luz should act in this scene. She thanked Luz’s mom for being there and taking time out of her work to do this. Luz was nervous but ready and excited to do this. She kept going over the lines in her head. Afraid she’d miss something. Here we go. 

_ Action! _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I learned how to do italics and bold so that problem is out of the way. I'm still learning how to use ao3 so if you have any tips let me know!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luz's first day acting!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're almost at 1000 hits???? Thank you so much everyone! Your comments make me haisocenuaifwnfdsa *blush* and give me the motivation to write!

“Okay let’s take a break.” Dana said, flatly.

Luz felt like her throat was going to close. Her palms were sweaty and she was looking around everywhere. A certain panic spread in her head as she tried to focus on getting her part perfect. They hadn’t even gotten to the scenes where she has to change outfits. It had been a half an hour and Luz felt like she was giving Dana nothing. Her thoughts bubbled up in her head as she walked off set. Her mother followed after her. She knew how worried Luz was about impressing everyone. This role really meant a lot to her and it pained Camilia to see her daughter so stressed and uptight about something that usually gave her so much joy. Before she could talk to her daughter she saw Dana walking up to her. Camilia thought maybe she should stay out of it this time and let the professionals handle it. She chose to use her break to look over her lines using the copy of the script Luz had. She walked out to the hallways of the building, looking around to ask someone where she could use the bathroom, and looking back one last time to see Dana talking to Luz.

Dana lightly put her hand on Luz’s shoulder. 

“Hey, Luz. Can we talk.”

Luz felt her heart stop. She knew she was going to mess this up. She knew she wasn’t cut out for this role. She knew that this was a mistake. She felt like she disappointed Dana but more importantly she felt like she disappointed herself. She tried to reassure herself like her mother teaches her how to do. All she could feel was a tight pain in her chest. Her head was spinning with thoughts of “You need to be more professional.” or “This is your one shot and a big one, show them you mean it.” or she’s constantly critiquing her acting and thinking that it’s too out of character.

“Luz?”

Luz looked up at Dana. Instead of anger and frustration, she saw worry. Dana’s brow creased and her eyes seemed cautious. She handed Luz a bottle of water which she gladly accepted. After taking a few sips and taking a deep breath, Luz nodded. She couldn’t even speak.

“Is there anything I can do to make you feel a little more comfortable?” Dana asked.

“I wish there was. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t say sorry Luz. You’re doing fine. I think you just need to relax a little bit. I know you can do this! Take deep breaths okay? We’ll film again in 10 minutes. Do whatever you need to do, there is no rush. We want you to feel comfortable so if there’s anything you need, just tell us. Okay?”

“Okay.” Luz said as she looked down and twiddled with her thumbs. At least she wasn’t being fired after 30 minutes of working.

Dana walked away and Luz walked around the set. She found a nice quiet and secluded spot where she could sit and do some grounding exercises. Putting one of her earbuds in her ear, she started her playlist of lo fi tv theme songs. While she was growing up, tv was what always comforted her. She would often pretend to be the characters with her mom and when she got her phone, she would look up the actors who played them. She remembered hours where she sat, scrolling through instagram, looking at these actors and asking them questions in their comment section about either the show or acting. She rarely got a response but the one time she did she was ecstatic. Luz hugged her knees and stared at her phone. She had 5 minutes left of the break.

“Rough first practice?”

Luz looked up and saw Amity standing there. She sat down next to Luz.

“Mind if I listen with you?” Amity asked as she pointed to the unused earbud. Luz nodded and Amity put it in her ear which was weirdly pointier.

“What’s up with your ears?”

“Oh, the witches have pointy ears for some reason. Willow and I were getting ours measured and made. They’re kinda itchy.”

“They look so cute! You’re like a elf witch hybrid, I love elves. They’re always the most attractive in all of the fantasy shows I watch.” Luz said passionately, a smile escaping her which made Amity smile at. She blushed at the first comment, looking away and laughing to herself. Luz always knew how to make her smile, even when Luz was sad herself. They just sat together for a few seconds, Amity closed her eyes and tapped her foot to the beat of the music.

“This is nice.” Amity said, smiling softly at Luz. “Are you feeling better now?”

Luz let go of her knees. “A little…” She thought for a second then looked at Amity. “Amity… what did you think when you heard I was going to be the main character?” Luz was scared of the answer. She needed an outside opinion on whether she was really meant for this role or not. 

“Sorry… that was a weird question, I-” Luz started.

“I thought you were a perfect fit.”

Luz gave her a genuinely confused look which Amity chuckled a little at.

“You need to give yourself more credit. Relax, you’re learning. And after hearing you were going to be the new mc, I knew that this would be perfect for you to practice in.”

“Why?”

“Because you fit the character so well.”

“I… I do? I literally just spent 30 minutes reshooting the same scene because I wasn’t fitting the character well?”

“You’re thinking too much into it, Luz. This character is you. So just be yourself. Of course in certain scenes you’ll have to work a little harder but… not gonna lie, you’re kind of a goofball.”

Luz cringed at that word. She felt like she had to be taken seriously if she wanted to get far in acting. She thought if she was more professional that she would get more gigs. Amity saw Luz’s face of distress and stopped chuckling.

“Sorry… it’s just, the character description is of someone who can cheer up those around them and shows people that being weird and a goofball is okay and to be yourself and there will always be a place for you. Someone who’s determined and works hard and has a caring heart and sometimes some misplaced optimism.”

“That sounds like a really wonderful person.” Amity almost facepalmed herself.

“Luz I don’t know what it’ll take for you to realize that I am basically describing you. And if you don’t believe me, go out there and read your lines as if you were saying them to me or your mom. Pretend like you aren’t acting, I promise you it’ll prove I’m right about you fitting the character.”

“I’ll try… thanks Amity. But I’m about to prove you wrong.”

“We’ll see. Wanna bet on it?”

Luz laughed, loosening up a bit. “Sure, name your price.”

“Oh, no, that’s a secret.” Amity said with a wink.

“Hey that’s not fair, I wanna know what i’m betting on-”

“1 minute left! Places everyone!” Called out a crew member.

Luz sighed and took Amity’s hand shaking it. “Just to lock in the bet.” She said with a smirk. Amity smiled softly, seeing that she was able to get Luz back to normal again. Her face heated up a bit as the two went different ways and said goodbye. Letting out a groan and covering her face, she said “Luz, you dumbass.”

  
  
  
  


Camilia was in place for the scene. She looked around for Luz and saw that white haired lady wave at her. Camilia smiled and waved back. She thought about how nice everyone was here. The lady had been very kind in helping her navigate through all of the rooms and sets to get to and from the bathroom. Although she hadn’t caught her name. She turned back to the chair where Luz would be seeing and frowned when her daughter wasn’t there. Suddenly, the young latina bolted around the corner of the background and sat in the chair.

“Present!” Luz exclaimed as if she were in class. Camilia laughed a little. Luz definitely seemed calmer and happier so whatever or whoever she talked to after Dana must have helped. She made a mental note to ask about the person and thank them.

“Ok, Luz, you ready?” asked Dana.

“As i’ll ever be”

“Action!”

Luz felt much calmer this time around. She still had those nervous butterflies in her stomach but this time she told herself it was okay. She told herself that it was human to be nervous. She thought about Amity and how adamant she was that Luz just be herself. Amity’s laughter filled Luz’s head. Her shoulders relaxed thinking about Amity comparing her to the main character’s description. The mc could make anyone feel better huh? Luz felt like that fit Amity more in this situation. She grasped the Azura doll in her left hand and the fake snake in her right.

“And that was the end!”

“The end of what?” Camilia asked, her brow furrowed as she tried to not giggle at the props in Luz’s hands. She remembered that she had to seem worried for Luz in this scene.

“My book report!” Luz put on a smile and looked between the principal and her mother pretending like she didn’t know what she did wrong. She channeled the same energy and excitement she got when she explained fanfiction to her mother earlier in the day. “I think I knocked it out of the park.”

“Your book report is the reason why you’re in here.”

Actors behind the back wall ran around screaming with fake snakes in their hair. Luz quickly caught her giggle as she wondered if Amity was still back there and if she had to deal with them. She stopped for a second to remember her next line as the camera came back to focus on her. She thought of the nights where she would act out scenes of a tv show with her mom using various household items as stand in props. “Oh. That’s where the backup snakes were!” She said, still holding an oblivious face.

“And what were you going to do with this?” Camilia held up a stack of fake fireworks.

“That was for the act three closer.” Luz said, a little sadder than before.

“Mija, I love your creativity, but it’s gotten out of hand. Do you remember why you were in the principal's office the last three times?” Camilia got on her knee before Luz and grabbed her hand. This wasn’t exactly in the script but she hated saying those words to Luz. It was true, Camilia did love Luz’s creativity which is why it was easier to say. However, she understood Luz’s insecurities about it and didn’t want to make her daughter feel bad about it while she was clearly feeling better from the previous dilemma. She reminded herself that it was just acting and hopefully Luz is taking it that way too.

“Cut! That was perfect! Luz! Keep that up, whatever you did in that 10 minute break? Do more of it because you weren’t stiff at all that time! Great work!” Dana said sitting up in her chair. “Ok let’s finish filming the scenes in the principal's office and then we’ll get a small break for a set change.”

As Luz continued to act, she kept in mind that she did one flawless take. She felt proud of herself and that excitement of acting was back. She almost had to go back to how she was feeling before so that she could act sad for certain scenes. Either way, she was having fun with acting again and that made everyone in the room brighten up. Even though Luz didn’t see it.

  
  
  
  


“Ok and that’s a wrap on the principal’s office. Take a break while the crew changes the background to Eda’s human treasures stand. We’ll film all the green screen and outside scenes at the end of today.”

Luz took a sip of her water and took a deep breath. She reminded herself that she was doing good and that she was still learning. Camilia wrapped Luz up in a hug.

“You’re doing so great carino! I am so proud!”

“Thank you mama, I’m feeling much better now.”

“Yeah, speaking of which, what changed? Who do I have to thank?”

“Oh! Remember Amity? Apparently she was behind the set and she helped cheer me up. She told me that I fit the character perfectly and- oh shoot Amity! Oh cramity I lost the bet! I have to go find her uhhh I might have to owe her something. Sorry mama.”

“Okay well let me come with you so I can thank her in person for making my light smile again.”

Luz rolled her eyes at the reference to her name. She still loved it when her mother called her “her light” since her name translates to light. As she looked at her mom she noticed the background changing for the next scene. On stage was a lady with white hair and in a red dress. She seemed like an older actress who would have more experience. Maybe Luz could ask her for some advice. Suddenly, the lady was gesturing to Luz’s mother. “Um, mama? Who’s that?” Luz said, pointing at the lady.

Camilia turned around and gasped then laughed. “I’m not quite sure but I am going to find out in a second.” Camilia walked over to the lady leaving Luz alone.

Luz smiled at those two who seemed to be laughing and having a good time. She was glad her mom was doing well on set. Willow was right, acting with family is much more fun. She looked around and saw Amity walking to another section of the room. Luz ran after her, deciding that her mom could meet Amity later.

“Amity!”

“Oh, hey Luz!” Amity smirked and nudged Luz. “Looks like I won. You’re smiling ear to ear. Not something I would be doing if I bet on my acting performance.”

Luz rolled her eyes. “Oh whatever whatever, give me your worst! What? Do I have to get fitted for some pointy ears and wear them for a week? Or maybe-”

“You have to pay for my lunch tomorrow.” As much as Amity would love to see Luz in witch ears, she took a chance and took Willow’s advice.

“Wait what? That’s all? Gah I have to pay Willow back too! Shoot I forgot! Um, I can pay you right now? Why tomorrow? And aren’t your parents, like, rich? Sorry, too many questions.”

There she went, rambling again. Amity giggled at it though, always finding it amusing. “I want you to come with me dummy.”

“Ohhhhhh, okay!” Luz took Amity’s hands. “It’ll be so much fun! Where do you-”

“Back on set in 2 minutes please!” Yelled a crew member. Luz frowned and groaned.

“We’ll talk about this more later.”

“Oh actually I'm leaving for the day. Me and Willow were only here to get our witch ears fitted.”

“Oh well then can I get your number?”

Amity blushed and quickly shook it off. “Yeah its…”

  
  
  
  


After a long day of filming Luz was beat. She had nearly fallen off of the platform for Eda’s magic in the conformatorium scene and had to take multiple takes of her first meeting King. She had no idea what King was or was going to look like, so when a small pillow with a green pillow case on it was something she had to pick up and call cute she was confused. Luckily, the voice of King was none other than Alex Hirsch who was great at making Luz laugh every time King spoke. Although it made the day longer, Alex had done several takes where he used different funny voices for King instead of his actual high pitched King voice. Every time it made the crew laugh and Dana had to keep herself the only focused one so they could get things done. Although, she couldn’t stop laughing when Alex decided to use his Gollum voice saying “my precious” about a rubber duck. It definitely lightened the mood and allowed Luz to act consistently throughout the day.

She was able to meet Eda who turned out to be the lady from earlier who was talking to her mom. She seemed super cool and fun and Luz asked her a lot of questions about acting. Some of Eda’s answers were wacky and others were more serious but overall Luz could tell she was going to love working with Eda. By the time she was walking home with her mom, she was telling her all of this and more.

“Seemed like you had a good day mija!”

“I did!”

“And it was all because of that Amity girl right? Did you find her and say thank you?”

“Well, actually I didn’t say thank you but I will when we get lunch together tomorrow!”

“Oh do I need to give you some money?”

“Actually, I have to pay for her lunch.”

“Oh how kind of you! She deserves it though for making you feel better.”

“Well, not exactly. She won a bet between us.”

“Oh I see. It’s ok, I’ll give you plenty for both of you. Gotta treat a girl am I right?”

Luz laughed and looked at her phone. She had saved Amity’s contact with a magic emoji. Clicking the contact she started to text, ‘What time tomorrow grocery girl? ;)’

  
  
  
  


-

  
  
  


Extra Scene:

  
  


“I can not BELIEVE her!!” Amity threw her phone on her bed and muffled her scream in a pillow. “A winky face! A WINKY FACE!!!” She groaned again into her pillow. “And ‘grocery girl’??? It’s so stupid it’s cute!” After she was done, she grabbed her diary to write and draw in by her favorite windowsill. Redoing her half up ponytail, she walked over to her door. After opening it she was met with a certain pair of twins who seemed to be eavesdropping.

“Spill, ‘grocery girl’” The twins smirked and wiggled their eyebrows. Amity slammed the door in their faces. Looks like she’ll have to write and draw in her room.

“Come onnnnn Mittens! Let us in! We wanna know who our sister is crushing on”

“I am not crushing on anyone! Now go away!”

Amity facepalmed herself and ran her hands through her hair messing up her previously perfect ponytail. She heard footsteps retreating down the hall as she slid down the wall of her room. Settling at the floor of her room, she hugged her diary.

“Yeah… no way… not a chance… right?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so no new chapter tomorrow, sorry! The next one will be out Tuesday in the evening PST. I'm looking forward to seeing your guys' reactions and responses hehehe


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luz and Amity get lunch. Willow teaches Luz about acting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost 1500 hits?? Damn okay, I hope you enjoy the chapter and continue to want to read this fic of mine ^_^ Art of Amity and Luz's outfits are up on my Instagram and twitter! My user is Keysstylus

The next day, Luz received a text in the middle of acting.

_ Amity B: I’ll pick you up at noon. We’ll decide on where to go when we meet up. _

“Luz! No phones on set!”

“Sorry Dana, I’ll put it away right now.”

Luz put the phone to the side after texting Amity that she got her text. She felt like time moved so slow. The cast was reshooting some of the King and Luz scenes because Eda, Luz, and Alex couldn’t stop laughing in a few takes. They also had to redo the Romeo and Juliet scene because one of the actor’s dresses got caught on a stray wire and tore. Dana made it clear that filming would take about two weeks to fully complete and then the editing team would need another few weeks to finalize the episode before it was ready to air. The crew had planned to finish the first half of the season and have it air weekly on Disney Channel. After the episodes started airing they would continue with the second half. There would be a hiatus between the two halves to give the editing team time to finish things up since the episodes came out faster than the crew could film them. There was going to be no breaks in filming for several months. Luz realized how fast everything was picking up and it was hard to keep this secret to herself. She took plenty of pictures on set and of everyone getting ready, much to their dismay.

“Ok I think this is good for now. Let’s take a five minute break and we’ll film the chase scene through the portal.”

On the five minute break Luz went back to get her phone. She took a swig of her water and looked over at the crew. They were putting up a green screen and various green boxes and platforms. The lighting crew was changing their equipment to replicate natural sunlight so that the scene would feel like it was really outside. There was a tall prop of Eda’s door which had a green screen behind it so the editors could cut between this clip and Luz entering Eda’s shop. Luz marveled at all of the technicalities that went into filming an episode like this. She wondered how it would look when it was all done. Putting her water down, she took a photo with her camera.

_ Better take a before and after photo _ She thought to herself.

As she took the photo, her phone dinged, notifying her someone texted her.

_ Unknown Contact: Hey! This is Willow, Amity gave me your phone number. _

Luz smiled, quickly putting in Willow’s name before responding.

_ Luz: Hey! What’s up? _

_ Willow: Do you wanna practice acting with me? _

_ Luz: Totally! When? _

_ Willow: I’m not sure yet, I have to help my dad’s next week and then we’re going up to Oregon to attend a small convention for actors so maybe the week after that? _

_ Luz: That works! I don’t think I have anything happening. Would it be at your house? _

_ Willow: Yeah, here’s the address. _

Luz received a location and saved it in her phone under Willow’s contact. She heard a crew member call one minute left of her break.

_ Luz: Thanks! I have to go now but i’ll ttyl! _

_ Willow: Ok! Have fun \\(^_^)/ _

_ Luz: :D _

Luz smiled as she looked at the time on her phone. Only another hour and a half and she’ll go have lunch with Amity. And she has an acting lesson to look forward to with Willow! Luz patted her thighs in excitement while letting out a little squeal. She was genuinely happy and she hoped it stayed that way forever.

  
  
  


Finally! It was 12 noon and Luz had already changed out of her outfit from set. Now she wore black jeans that were cuffed above her ankles, her dirty purple high top converse, a simple white t-shirt with cuffed sleeves, a violet flannel around her waist, and a snapback on her head. Her hair was relatively greasy after shooting for hours on end and having so much product in it. She had ruffled her hair to get it to look more natural and it had just messed it up. Luz loved the stylists provided by the crew but sometimes she just liked her hair to be natural. She opened her phone and went to her camera. Making sure she looked okay she glanced at the time. Only a few minutes late, that's ok. And sure enough, Amity Blight didn’t disappoint. Luz wasn’t very good with names of cars, but she could tell that whatever car Amity was driving seemed pretty rich. The passenger window rolled down as Amity pulled over in front of Luz.

“Hey! Sorry I was a little late, my siblings were being… difficult”

As Luz got in the car Amity gave her a subtle look up and down.

“Difficult in what way?” Luz said, putting on her seatbelt.

“Y’know, the usual sibling difficult” Amity looked back at Luz now, her blush settling down. “I like your outfit.”

“Aww thanks! I like yours too!”

As Amity pulled away from the curb, Luz took a second look at her. She was wearing a black off the shoulder shirt that had translucent tulle sleeves. Her shorts were baby pink and high waisted. Luz glanced up to look at Amity’s face.  _ She’s so pretty…  _ Luz thought. Amity seemed so peaceful. Her face was always so rested and her eyes seemed full of thought. Luz never realized how soft Amity’s hair looked. Without thinking, her hand reached out to touch the brown locks. Amity jumped at the sudden gesture.

“Um… Luz?”

“Oh! Sorry ummm… I just… y’know… your hair… looks nice… um… haha ha ha can I play music?”

“Go for it.”

There was an awkward silence between them as Luz plugged in her phone. She turned away from Amity and looked out the window, softly hitting her forehead against the glass.  _ Estupida _ Luz thought. She crossed her arms as she felt the embarrassment fill her up.  _ That was so weird, why would you do that? _ She thought to herself. Amity kept driving, her mind wondering what that was all about. She told herself it was nothing, just Luz being Luz.

“So… where are we goin?” Luz said, trying to make up for her out of the blue gesture.

“I was wondering when you’d ask” Amity said with a smirk. “Do you like boba?”

“No.”

“Oh… not how I thought that was gonna g-”

“I LOVE BOBA!”

Amity giggled. Of course she did. “Good, cause I know a good boba shop that also sells these really yummy small cakes and pastries.”

“Do you like sweet things, Amity?”

“You could say that. By the way, I brought some home made chicken bites.”

“What’s that?”

“Basically chicken nuggets, my parents call them chicken bites.”

“Do you cook?”

“A little here and there. I like making simple things.”

“Is that why you were at the grocery store? I know everyone in my neighborhood and I had never seen you there before.”

Amity blushed out of embarrassment. “Actually… I was there because… it’s the only store in LA that sells these chocolate bunnies I really like.”

“AWWWWWWW Amityyyyy! That’s so cute!” Luz balled up her fists and squealed.

“It’s dumb, you sound like my siblings.”

“Sorry sorry, I’ll stop. Do you live near that grocery store?”

“No, I live on the opposite side of LA.”

“So you came all that way for a chocolate bunny?”

“I LiKe ThEm OkAy” Amity huffed and pouted, looking away from Luz who was teasing her. Luckily her suffering ended when they got to the boba shop. As they got out of the car, Amity put on a black mask and sunglasses.

“Why do you need the mask and sunglasses?” asked Luz.

“My parents want me to be lowkey. It’s kind of important… um… sorry… ”

Amity seemed to not want to explain it. Luz noticed Amity's uncomfortableness and softly took her hand. “Hey, don’t worry about it. I understand.” Amity smiled and nodded.

When they got inside, they each ordered a drink and Amity gushed about all of the different desserts they offered. Her mask was pulled down a little so Luz could hear her. She wore a bright smile and showed her dimples. Luz thought it was nice to see Amity so happy. She made a mental note to go to the store and get Amity a lot of chocolate bunnies so she didn’t have to drive as far. Part of her wanted Amity to come to her area of LA so she could see her at the grocery store more though. Luz used the money Camilia had given her for the two of them and they waited around for their boba.

Once they got their drinks and food, they both sat at a table with an umbrella above it to block out the sun. They were in a more secluded area where there weren’t a lot of people. The area had no cars and was an open space where restaurants and bands could put on shows. They happened at night so during the day, the space was for the public. Amity felt comfortable enough to take off her mask. Luz took a bite of her dessert. It was very soft and almost melted in her mouth. It had a dash of vanilla and cinnamon. Amity had picked it out for her because it was made with no milk. After savoring the flavor of the dessert, Luz took a sip of boba. She was in heaven. She looked over to Amity who was peacefully drinking her boba and nibbling on her chicken bites. Luz decided to make her laugh a little and took a big hard sip of her boba, picking up a lot of the tapioca pearls.

“Hrgh Amrtry!” Luz said, her voice muffled.

Amity looked over and spit out her drink. There was Luz with a mouth full of tapioca pearls, looking at her in the most adorably goofy way. She couldn’t contain the laughter that followed.

“Wairt, Erm Sturk” said Luz, struggling to either swallow or spit out the tapioca pearls. This only made Amity laugh harder. Luz smiled while she slowly spit out tapioca pearls. Amity’s laughter was adorable. It was light and harmless and sounded genuine. She was laugh-crying too, and Luz felt a wave of happiness wash over her as she looked at how much Amity had enjoyed Luz’s little joke. Luz noticed some of Amity's hair had fallen out of her ponytail from her laughing so much so she reached out a hand and lightly pushed some of the hair to the side. She gave Amity a warm look when her face was clearer.

As Amity finally settled down she said, “Luz! You can’t just do that! I spit my drink all over the table!”

“Hey but it was worth it, right?”

“Psh… yeah” Amity was redoing her hair when they both heard a small  _ snap! _ Amity held up her hair with one hand and brought her other hand down to her face to find a broken hair tie. “Dang it” she said.

Luz took a purple hair tie off of her wrist and gave it to Amity. “Here.” Amity gladly took the hair tie with a smile. Red shone on her face as she redid her hair.

When Amity was done, she pulled out her phone and checked it in her camera. “Does it look ok?” Amity asked.

“Perfect.” Luz said as she gazed at Amity with a gentle smile. The two decided they were done and got on their way back to the studio. Amity waved goodbye and Luz shook off the giddy feeling she had in her chest and the smile growing on her face.

  
  
  
  


After a few weeks had gone by, Luz had gotten pretty used to the flow of acting. Even though the crew’s filming time was delayed and adjusted due to Eda not showing up to some of the film days, Luz still kept a positive drive which everyone appreciated. She found the sets easier to navigate and was more comfortable talking to Dana about how she was doing. Usually Dana would point out one or two things but overall told Luz to just keep being herself. Luz would sometimes improvise with a scene and it ends up working. She’d add a few words here and there to make the scene feel more natural for her. She had even suggested a few lines to Dana like “My weak nerd arms” and her character making anime amvs. Dana always laughed it off but said that it wouldn’t hurt the episode and so it would be okay. Even though Luz was doing fine with the lighter and happier scenes, when she started her lines for some of the more serious parts of the second episode, she had more trouble. She was filled with a lot of positive energy and it was sometimes hard for her to come down from that for the sake of the character. When she tried, she was told it felt unnatural and like Luz was trying too hard. Luckily, Luz had planned to meet up with Willow to chat and practice this with her. The two were walking around LA when they stopped at a park. A large open gate welcomed them into the beautiful Zelia park and garden.

It was a pretty big open space. Groves of flowers and hedges lined several walkways. There were greenhouses for the public and archways made of vines and roses. A grand fountain stood in the middle of it all, spewing water into it’s marble structure. The carvings were elegant and the marble was clearly aging well. It was beautiful. On top of this, a grandiose and large field with various benches sat past the garden area. There were plenty of people running around, a few dogs playing, and just some college students studying or reading a book. It was a nice peaceful area for them to practice in.

“Ok, Luz! What do you want to work on?”

“I wanted to ask you… how do you replicate certain emotions without it seeming like you’re forcing them? Like… I can act out a sad scene and think of a sad memory to get me going, but it always comes off forced and unnatural.”

“Hmmm, that can be difficult. I totally understand where you’re coming from. I have two exercises we could do that my dad’s taught me. One is called the machine of emotions while the other is about persuasiveness. Let’s start with the machine of emotions.”

“Ok! What’s that?” Luz was genuinely interested in this and Willow could tell. Willow really respected Luz and wanted to make sure she could help her as much as possible. She felt like Luz had a lot of potential and that with hard work, Luz would be a wonderful actor. Good thing she knew Luz would give it her all as long as things made sense to her.

“Okay so, basically I give you an emotion and you tell me a scenario that makes you feel that emotion. Then, I’ll act it out and you react in a way that displays that emotion. Make sense?”

Luz was silent for a second, trying to think and process it. “Not… quite. Maybe you could give me an example?”

“Ok. Give me an emotion.”

“Hmmm… anger.”

“Okay, something that makes me angry is bullying. So then you would act out bullying.”

“Wait but I don’t want to be a bully… ”

Willow smiled at how considerate Luz was. Even to the extent of probably forgetting that it was acting. “Luz, don’t worry. I won’t take any offense, it’s just acting remember? Sometimes we have to do things we don’t like or don’t match our personalities.”

“True true… Ok.” Luz stood back a little and crossed her arms. She put on a scowl and tried to seem like a standoffish brat. “Ugh, it’s you. Are you looking for trouble? Do you know who I am?? Try me, I dare you.”

Willow took a deep breath. Her brow furrowed and she balled up her fists. “You. Make. Me. Sick. It’s bullies like you who make everyone’s lives harder! You infuriate me!”

Luz tried not to break character as she saw Willow getting fired up. Her eyes squinted in anger and her body heaved forward. She pointed a sharp finger in Luz’s direction.

“You think bullying makes you so high and mighty. Get a life! We’re all trying to deal with life just like you! Stop trying to make it harder for everyone for the sake of your ego and keep it to yourself!” Willow yelled. Her voice came through really strong and Luz could hear and see the emotions from her body language. Her acting even made some people around them turn in their direction. A few enraptured in her performance. Willow noticed this and took a breath. She fixed her posture and her face relaxed. “And that's that!” She said, much happier than before.

“Willow… that was so amazing. You’re an amazing actor! I truly believed you were angry with me! I hope I can do that some day…”

“You can, Luz! It just takes a lot of practice, and that's what we’re here for, right?”

“Right! Okay give me an emotion!”

“Let’s start easy, happiness!”

“Ok ok… what makes me happy… hmmm, seeing puppies and kittens I guess? Baby animals are just so cute!”

“Ok then… Luz! My dads are letting me adopt a 7 week old black lab! They said you could come over and pet it!”

Luz’s eyes crinkled with her growing smile. She let the warmth of happiness take over and engulf her actions and her body language. She thought about how Willow embodied anger, her stance, her facial features, her tone of voice. Everything, every little detail, Luz tried to put into happiness. She took a wide stance, rolled her shoulders back and turned her chin up a little bit. She let her hands lay calmly at her sides and used them as she spoke. Her voice came out soft and almost like a squeal. At times she would close her eyes and just smile. “Awwww, that’s so great Willow! They’ll be an adorable addition to your even more adorable family!” She took a step forward, grasping Willow’s hands in hers and smiling into her. “This is great!” She smiled again, eyes closed and all teeth. She didn’t force it, she wanted to seem like she was genuinely just happy for willow and happy about the idea of a cute baby puppy waddling around.

“That was great Luz!”

Luz let go of Willow's hands and took a step back. “It was? I feel like I wasn’t showing the right kind of happiness though?”

“Well, that’s another tip. A good way to get the right emotion across is by understanding why your character feels the way they do. Do they feel happiness themselves or for someone else? Are they angry at someone or are they displaying anger because really they’re disappointed at themself? My dads taught me to ask myself these questions to get a better feeling for what I should act as.”

“That’s really good advice Willow! I’m surprised your dads aren’t in bigger films! They seem like experts!”

“Well, the higher you go up in the acting world the more pressure you have on yourself. Sometimes it feels liberating, some people lose their sense of self. They’re constantly being watched and scouted by producers and directors. It’s not always fun, that’s why my parents decided it’d be better for them to stay in the lesser known films and help the industry in that way.”

“Wow… that makes sense. Good for them for making that decision though. You’ve got some pretty great dads Willow”

“I do! I love them a lot. They’re my biggest supporters.”

As they continued with their exercise, Willow increased the difficulty with the emotions. After a while, instead of asking for broad emotions like sadness or fear, she would be more specific, anguish, grief, jealousy, love, peacefulness, pride. As they did more and more, Luz was able to figure out what each emotion meant to her and how to understand what the context of feeling the emotion would be put in and how that would affect her words and body language. After a while, Willow decided to try something more.

“Ok! Now, I want you to do this same exercise but I don’t give you a prompt. You’ll try to persuade me that you feel a certain emotion by acting it out and then I have to try and guess what the emotion is. Here’s an example.”

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Willow doubled over. Her knees pointed inwards and shook. She grasped her shirt over her heart and curled her shoulders in. She let her hair fall in front of her face, which contorted to be deeply troubled. Her lips puckered and her jaw tensed. Her eyes drooped and her eyebrows swooped up and inwards showing worry. “L-Luz... “ She said softly and weakly. Luz was taken aback, she placed a light hand on Willow’s back. Now unable to see Willow's face, as she covered her face with her hands and started to grasp at her hair, Luz started to worry for her. “Luz I don’t know what's happening I… I-i hate this. I don’t want to feel this way Luz… I-I- I don’t know what to do! I… I just want to be okay again…” Her voice wavered and trembled with every shake of her body. Luz was worried she was going to actually start crying. And then like that she stood right up, a calm expression on her face.

“What did you think?” She said.

“WILLOW YOU GAVE ME A HEART ATTACK!!!”

She laughed. “Good” giving Luz a wink.

“Obviously it was sadness… but maybe… grief? Anguish?”

“Those are pretty good words, yeah! Could you tell why I was upset?”

“I think… because you were confused as to what you were feeling… and so you were conflicted within yourself.”

“Very good!”

Luz breathed a sigh of relief. They spent the rest of the afternoon doing more of this exercise. By the end, Luz felt much more confident and prepared for going back into the studio the next day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I have a headcanon that Amity likes sweet things. Art of Amity and Luz's outfits are up on my Instagram and twitter! My user is Keysstylus, if you make your own art make sure to tag me! I wanna see it! Thank you! <3


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I Was A Teenage Abomination!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! Thank you for the outpour of love on the art I made last chapter! My Instagram and twitter blew up with likes and follows! Hello new reader, I hope you're liking the fic! Remember, I post on insta and twitter under Keysstylus after I post a chapter on here. I won't make art for every chapter but for some of my favorite scenes I will. <3

The next week, the crew had moved onto the next episode. Luz was grateful that Willow taught her how to convey emotions better through acting because it really helped her out during some scenes. After filming the second episode, Luz was ecstatic to get started on episode three! She remembered that this is the episode where her, Willow, and Amity would meet! Apparently, Eda couldn’t come into work today again so the crew decided that they would film some of the Willow, Luz, and Amity scenes today. This also worked because they would film the scenes where Luz had to be covered in abomination goop first and get it over with, hopefully. As Luz was going over what the scenes were about and her lines, she saw Willow off to the side of the set. This time Willow was wearing a gray tunic, dark gray belt, boots, and a cowl, as well as sleeves and leggings that were pink.

“Willow! You look great! Is this the Hexside uniform?”

“Yep! Isn’t it cool?”

“Definitely. Also, hey, I wanted to thank you again for taking time to teach me about acting through emotions. It really helped me and I hope you see that while we film today.”

“Luz, I did it because I know you can do it and I want you to stay in the industry! You’re my friend! You don’t have to prove anything to me or show me anything. I’m just here to support you.”

Luz softly smiled at Willow. How did she end up with such a great friend? She gave Willow that determined look she had as they made their way to set. It consisted of a green screen background and a few leafy hedge props. The scene was set somewhere in a clearing of a forest. Luz was supposed to meet Willow in this scene, and Amity although Luz hadn’t seen her on set today so she wondered if she was even here. Either way, they started acting.

The camera panned so that it showed Luz walking through the path. Luz groaned. “If magic is all about digging for slimeballs, maybe I don’t have the stomach for it.” She recited as she stared at the slimy brown seed in her hand. As she put it in her pocket she heard Willow’s voice. 

“You can do it! You can!” 

Luz pretended to be startled. Her eyes darted from side to side before settling on moving to the left. “Mysterious voice of encouragement?” she said, which gained a chuckle or two from someone on set. Not loud enough to be picked up by the microphones but just enough to let Luz know that she was doing well. The cameras changed angles and now they showed Willow in a new clearing. Luz crouching behind a bush.

“Little witch girl!” Luz whispered in awe. She watched Willow recite her lines. Pacing back and forth, getting up from her seat, and accidentally stepping on a flower. Her movements helped her further accentuate her character’s nervousness. Luz smiled to herself as she watched Willow act. The girl was now pretending to draw a circle around the squashed plant. The cameras pointed to Luz, who gasped in awe and smiled. A rumble was heard from the left and Luz watched attentively. She knew, this was where Amity came in. Willow geared her attention towards the moving wagon that now came into view. Atop it sat Amity, reading the Magic 101 book and with… aquamarine hair? Well it wasn’t _all_ aquamarine. Her roots weren’t dyed for some reason. Luz found this peculiar but also couldn’t take her eyes off of Amity. She had to catch her jaw because she realized her mouth was hanging open a little.

“Willow!” Amity said in a slightly condescending tone. Luz cringed, a little confused. Was this Amity Blight? She remembered all of the actors were cast based on how close their real personalities were to their roles… but this didn’t seem very Amity like.

“You were so unnoticeable I almost rolled into ya” Amity jumped off of the wagon and put her hand on her hip. Luz kept watching as if she were watching a drama on tv.

“Hi, Amity.” Willow said flatly. Luz assumed from Willow’s acting, that their characters are not very friendly towards each other.

Amity shifted her body. She stood up tall and poised, arms crossed and hand near her chin. She looked at Willow with slight pity. “Shouldn’t you get to class early to prep your-” She was cut off by Willow’s wagon stirring before dumping it’s contents on the floor.

“Oh Willow, you don’t have anything to show, do you?”

Luz leaned into the scene. She was intrigued by Amity’s acting. She seemed so… different. Luz had never seen Amity act before but it seemed like she was doing really well. The previous kind and gentle Amity was nowhere to be found. “Witch drama!” Luz said instinctively. 

The scene followed suit. Amity continued to be a frustrating character who Luz grew to be not so fond of. She flaunted the top student badge on her cowl and said everything in a grossly snobbish tone. By the end of Amity’s scene, Luz decided to improvise as the camera’s angle showed both Amity and Luz in the frame. Without Amity knowing, Luz stuck her tongue out at the girl. Although, she had to hand it to Amity. Her acting was flawless. It was so convincing it made Luz want to get up and defend her friend. Maybe it was just because the character reminded her of certain bullies in middle school. Dana called cut and proceeded to praise Amity for her acting. Willow was also given high praise. Luz knew they deserved it and finally got up out of her crouched position to talk to them. She walked out and over to Willow.

“Willow! That was so awesome!! You keep wowing me, superstar.” She winked at Willow, referring to the nickname Amity’s character had given her. Willow giggled and thanked Luz. They both turned towards Amity who was walking off set since she had no more appearances in the rest of the scenes shot in the clearing. Luz chased after her while the cameramen reviewed the film with Dana.

“Hey Amity! That was some killer acting, girl! You even had me staring and hanging onto everything you did!”

Amity turned towards Luz and laughed at her enthusiasm. Letting go of her character’s facade, she was back to kind and gentle Amity Blight. “Thank you Luz, you weren’t too bad yourself.”

“Oh please, I had like two lines. You and Willow were the real stars!” Amity looked over to Willow who was talking to a crew member about how the magic in the next scene will play out.

“Hey Willow! Sorry about that! I hope it didn’t hurt your feelings or anything, was I too much?” Amity shouted.

Willow took notice and yelled back, “No way Am! You did great as always, keep it up!”

Luz smiled at their interaction. She was glad she wasn’t in a cast of people who were cutthroat and mean to each other. The air seemed positive, supportive, and uplifting. She turned back to Amity.

“Soooooo… what’s with the hair?”

Amity fumbled with some strands between her fingers. “Dana wondered if I would be comfortable dying it for the role, so I said yes. Anything to get into character. I hope you still like it.”

“I’ll always love your hair, Amity. The aquamarine looks good on you! And just when I thought you could pull off one amazing hair color well, you go and do this! You’re gonna kill me!” Luz pretended to swoon. Amity let out a laugh which Luz beamed at. Luz loved to make Amity laugh, for some reason it was different. She could see Amity’s smile lines and it always seemed so fun and lighthearted. She saw every detail. A crew member called everyone back and so the duo parted ways. Amity went to sit on a crate while she watched the rest of the scene play out. She wouldn’t be back on again for a bit since they have to film two scenes with Willow and Luz.

  
  
  
  


A member of the crew attached a wire to Luz’s ankle. According to the script and what they informed her of beforehand, is that after editing, it will look like a vine. Luz will be swept off her feet and dragged out into the clearing by Willow’s magic and that’s how they officially meet. Dana called _Action!_ and Luz watched as Willow suddenly became furious. With each line she recited, she used more and more of her body to convey her frustration. Especially in her voice and facial features, she almost made Luz scared of her. She felt a tug on her ankle as she was lifted over to where Willow was. Once she noticed, Willow changed moods completely. Suddenly showing concern and worry as she threw off some of the vines.

“Oh no oh no oh no! I’m so sorry!” She said as she kneeled in front of Luz.

“It’s ok, the thorns only went through a few layers of skin.”

Willow got close to Luz’s face, inspecting her and showing curiosity. As she noticed Luz’s ears, she exclaimed “So… circly” and proceeded to gasp. “You’re human!” Luz quickly covered her ears in the most awkward way possible, hoping to add to the humor a little bit. Willow immediately perked up and started lightly grabbing at Luz as if she were a guinea pig. She guided Luz to stand up and circled around her and under her arm. Luz followed Willow with her eyes and showed her confusion. Then a bell could be heard, played by the sound directors. It indicated Willow had to go to school. Luz chased after Willow as she walked away, showing her excitement about the magic like how she shows excitement for her acting. At the mention of magic school, Luz internalized her love for harry potter and projected it into her acting. The scene kept going smoothly until Luz had to smear abomination goop on herself. She scooped up two handfuls of the mess and slapped them on her clothes.

“Make _me_ your abomination!” Luz said with a smile, disregarding the cold slime on her.

As Luz rambled about how the plan would work and Willow showed slight concern for if it _would_ work or not, Luz wanted to play around and improvise again. She thought of Amity and how she had described what an abomination is over text.

“I saw that girl’s thing! It’s just chunks of stuff that talks weird. I’m chunks of stuff! _And_ I talk weird!” Luz said as she flailed her hands around and squished her face. Willow giggled, continuing with her lines. Soon enough, the scene was finished and the two exited the set for a break while the crew made it look like Hexside. Somewhere during the scene, Amity had run off somewhere and Luz was sad she didn’t get to see her line about chunks of stuff talking weird. Hopefully she’ll see it when it airs on TV.

Willow glanced around until she noticed a particular boy with short hair.

“Gus!”

“Who?” asked Luz.

“He’s in the next scene with us!” Willow signaled for him to come over.

“Hi, i’m Gus!”

“Luz, nice to meet you!”

Willow squealed and took one of Gus’ hands. “Gus, tell her how you got this job!”

“It’s nothing special Willow, why do you do this every time? Anyways, my parents work in this studio on the lighting. I grew up around this tech and only watching actors do their craft. I wanted to try it for myself so Dana let me have a part in _The Owl House_.”

“And what does that mean Luz?” Willow said.

“This… this is your first gig… you’re like me!” Luz pointed to herself and excitedly shook her hands. She was relieved to finally meet someone who was just as experienced as her here. It made her feel more reassured and comforted. It seemed like Dana got people of all different experiences and ages, so Luz was happy this was where she was debuting as an actor.

After they shot the scene where they met Gus, Luz was quick to ask him all about what he’s learned so far being on set. They shared their own thoughts on acting and shared in the comfort of knowing someone who was just as confused as they were. Gus had even shown that he can wiggle his ears on set while filming, to which they had to reshoot the scene because Luz couldn’t contain how cool she thought it was. Gus promised to teach her how to do it as well as Willow. Soon enough, Luz saw Amity reenter the set. Luz’s lower body was covered in abomination goop so she made sure to not hug Amity on sight. Gus sat to the side since he wasn’t in the next scene. Luz looked around and saw a few different kids, all with interesting makeup on. One kid had spikes all over his head and face, another had horns and lavender hair. Luz kept marveling at the other actors as she got into the pot she’d hide in for the scene. She felt cold abomination goop cover her body and shivered in disgust. The lid was lowered and she heard Dana call _Action!_

“Too many feet.” She heard from outside the pot. She giggled to herself trying to imagine what an abomination would look like with so many feet. Soon enough she heard the teacher call out his lines, threatening extra homework if the next abomination was a failure. Luz perked up when she heard Amity’s voice. Although it was patronizing right now, Luz listened intently to Amity act. Even though she couldn’t see her, Luz could definitely feel the performance going on outside and smiled to herself as she sat in awe of Amity’s acting skills.

“... how about, Willow.” That was Luz’s cue. She waited a few seconds, listening to the other actor’s whispering about Willow being half a witch. Popping open the lid of the pot a bit, she looked at Willow, who now had her hood up.

“Don’t listen to them Willow! We can do this!” She said, giving Willow a thumbs up with her slimy hand. Willow smiled and nodded. Luz retreated back into her pot as she felt Willow roll the wagon to the front of the class.

“Uh… abomination, rise!” Willow said apprehensively, a squeak at the end of her line.

Luz punched the lid off with her fist. It landed somewhere else with a thud. The editors would probably have to take that out but Luz was having too much fun. She jumped out of the pot like mario and gave everyone a funny look. Stretching her arms out and kicking a foot to the side, she said “Ta da!’ in a sing-song voice. Amity grinned to herself, trying to hold in her laughter at how goofy Luz was. Quickly, she put on a different face and opened her mouth in shock as the camera cut over to her. She went wide eyed and gasped. As soon as the camera left her, she went back to admiring how much fun Luz seemed to be having with the scene.

“Abomination, bow!” Willow said, pointing her finger at the ground.

“Hup” Luz flopped around, pretending she was a lifeless abomination. “Wahhh” she said as she took a bow.

“Very impressive! But does it speak?”

Luz stood up again and took a second to remember the line. “Uh, I may be your abomination, but you’re _my_ amomination!”

A snicker could be heard in the classroom, to which Luz turned to see Amity covering her mouth. Her cheeks were tinted red and she realized she had let out a laugh.

Dana sat up in her chair, “Cut!” she called. “Gotta be quiet on set.”

“I know I know, sorry Dana.” Amity said, looking down at her hands and fumbling with the bottom of her outfit. Luz could tell she was clearly embarrassed and being hard on herself, so while they went back to their starting positions, she made sure to nudge Amity.

“I’m glad you liked the joke.” Luz said with a wink. Amity smiled up at Luz and let go of the fabric of her clothes. Luz didn’t mind reshooting the scene, she was having fun and she was happy Amity was too.

  
  
  


Once they were done filming that scene, it was almost the end of the shooting day. It was cut short by the crew for an unexpected meeting. Dana had been talking to people off set. They had faces of worry and Luz tried to brush it off. However, as she exited the building, she heard whispers of “What are we going to do?” and “We need to get this sorted out.” So obviously something was wrong that the crew wasn’t telling the cast.

  
  
  
  


The next day, Luz overheard some crew members saying that they have to change the schedule for today. It was going to be another half day. Apparently Eda still hasn’t come in. “Can anyone contact her?” They asked each other. Somehow, today the atmosphere of the set was much more somber and tense. They were planning on filming the fight scene of the episode where Willow and Luz run around Hexside trying to escape from Principal Bump and Amity. The scene started with Gus, Willow, and Luz talking about human things. Luz felt a fuzziness in her head. Her eyes kept going out of focus and she stumbled on her lines. Having a blank mind and a horrible feeling in her chest, she wondered what happened to Eda. She worried if it would affect the show and if that would in turn affect her. While she went through the scene, she was snapped out of it by the door slamming open. Amity and Principal Bump made their entrance. Amity’s acting as flawless as ever, Bump doing a fine job. Luz tensed and tried to pay attention to what was happening. She cautiously went over the table and laid down. Bump’s lines went in one ear and out the other for her.

“Cut!”

Luz sat up and looked over to Dana who was talking to someone. The set was quiet. Everyone watched as Dana nodded with a strained face. The crew member walked away, clutching their phone to their chest. “I need to take care of something, Alex will take over directing until I'm back. For now let’s take a mini break. I think we all need it.”

Willow and Amity watched the young Latina. She had her hands in her pockets and was looking down at her feet. Amity frowned, crinkling her eyes as she looked at Luz. She seemed so distracted. Of course Luz would be worried about some other actor she barely even knew. Willow shared that concerned look. They both knew that Luz was probably thinking about Eda and thinking about if her fellow actor was okay. Especially since Eda was an older and more experienced actress, Luz probably saw her as a role model to look up to in some ways. Luz walked over to her bag of stuff and grabbed her water. As she took a sip she looked down at her phone. A single text from her mom. Willow and Amity noticed the change in expression of Luz’s face. They started to walk over to ask if Luz was okay.

_Mama <3: We need to talk when you get home. We have a problem. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay so i'm not suuuuper satisfied with this chapter but I've reread it too much so I hope you all liked it! I love reading you comments on this fic and messages on my social media! It gives me the motivation to write haha <3 You guys are too kind >.<


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The chapter in which I do be projecting onto Luz

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I felt upset two days ago when I wrote this and so haha take my projection onto Luz. It's a little shorter I think but that's okay.

“I’m sure everything is going to be fine Luz.” Willow said as her, Luz, and Amity exited the building at the end of their work day.

“I’m just worried… first Eda, and now my mom? On top of that, I acted horribly today because of it.”

“You have bad days sometimes, acting isn’t always perfect” Amity assured.

“Says you, I haven’t heard Dana say one bad thing about you!” Luz looked over to Amity. Obviously Luz didn’t mean to lash out or seem jealous of Amity. She understood Amity had been doing the whole acting thing for much longer than Luz. “Sorry” Luz said, crossing her arms and rubbing her sides. She looked down at the ground and tapped her heel.

“Before I could get to this point, I had to go through a lot of criticism, Luz. From more than just a few directors and my parents and about more than acting. But eventually, you learn from it all and come out better on the other end. Whatever is happening with your mom and Eda, I’m sure that you’ll get it sorted out.”

“I agree with Amity, Luz. It takes time. Everything does, this too will pass and I promise you’re going to be okay. Just take it one step at a time. You’ll figure out the situation with your mother and leave the Eda problem to the directors and crew. That’s not our problem.” Willow said.

“Thanks guys, I really appreciate this.” Luz said, uncrossing her arms and looking up to see her friends’ faces.

Willow waved goodbye and got into her car, driving away. As Amity was about to get in her car, Luz tugged on her arm. “By the way, I kinda forgot I had this but here.” Luz handed her a pack of chocolate bunny candies.

“Oh Luz, you didn’t have to.” Amity said, holding the candies tenderly in her hands.

“I go to the store all the time, it’s no biggie. Just thought I would get some for you since I know it must be a long drive across LA.”

“Thank you, Luz. I’ll pay you back for it.”

“Don’t sweat it, it’s a gift.” Luz stuffed her hands in her pockets and forced a smile. Amity saw right through her. She put a hand on Luz’s shoulder.

“Hey… you do know you can talk to me… right?”

“I… I know that… “ Luz said nervously. She didn’t want to bother Amity with her problems. She really looked up to Amity, she really did. Here was a girl her age who was already leagues ahead of her. Of course she understood why, but Luz wouldn’t be lying if she said that she hoped Amity saw her as just as good of an actor and not just a noob. It didn’t seem that way, but Luz had a tendency of thinking that way. She wondered why she cared so much what Amity thought of her. Deep in her thoughts, Amity shook her a little.

“You okay, Luz?”

Luz looked Amity in the eyes, the golden orbs held more concern than anything else. Luz mentally kicked herself for making the usually relaxed and cool Amity tense up over her. “Yeah… I should probably go.”

“Okay, don’t hesitate to text me if you need someone, okay?”

“Okay.”

And with that, Amity drove away, leaving Luz to walk home with her head stuffed full of thoughts and worries.

  
  
  
  


When Luz got home she stared at the door to her house. Camilia was already home so Luz wondered if it was an emergency and that’s why she seemed so serious over text. Luz feared that she had done something wrong or angered her or even worse, disappointed her. She spent a lot of time thinking about what could happen, standing outside of her house. Scared to go in. She took a deep breath and unlocked the door. Slowly opening it, she called out for her mom. She was met with no response. As she walked through the doorway, she saw some half eaten food left out on the counter. Camilia never left food out. It was a pet peeve of hers. Luz’s uneasiness grew. She walked down the hall and heard light laughter come from her mother’s bedroom. When she peeked inside, she saw Camilia wrapped a bandage around a person’s hand.

“This should help with the bleeding.” Camilia said, smiling at the stranger who was wearing a hoodie. Luz couldn’t quite see their face.

“Thank you. I’m lucky I came to a nurse’s house.” Luz recognized the voice. As the stranger turned around Luz let out a small gasp.

“Eda?” Luz said.

“Oh! Luz! How are you?”

“How am I?? How are you??? The crew has been worried about you! Apparently they couldn’t contact you! You’ve been missing film days. Are you okay? Mama, what’s going on?” Luz looked at her mother pleadingly. Her brain couldn’t wrap around what was happening.

“Mija, Eda texted me and asked me if she could stay with us for a bit. Her family doesn’t live in LA and her sister is out of state on a business trip.”

“But doesn’t she have her own house? I’m sure she’s rich, she’s a big name in the industry I think.”

Now it was Eda’s turn to explain. “Exactly, a ‘fan’ found my address. They’ve been giving me trouble for the past week. I tried to turn them down but they persisted. Eventually, they were displaying some violent behavior and started demanding things of me. I got scared and so I ran away while they were busy doing something else.”

Lu took a second to process this. Soon, she felt white hot anger rush to her head. “And you came to our house instead?? Now  _ my _ family is involved! Did you think before doing this?? Don’t you have other people you could have gone to?” Luz complained. She wasn’t about to put her family in danger for someone she’s barely known for two or three weeks. No matter who she was or how much Luz wanted to be like her. Her mother came first and foremost. No matter what.

“I don’t, Luz. To be frank, being ‘famous’ isn’t the luxury you think it is. I met your mother on set the first day. She showed me nothing but kindness and she was the only person I trusted to come to.”

“How do you know the creep won’t follow you here?”

“I… I don’t. I tried to cover my tracks well. I only brought my phone.”

“Well we can’t do anything now if they did follow you. So thanks for that.” Luz scowled at Eda, upset and disappointed that she was ever concerned for Eda in the first place. She looked to her mom for support.

“Mija, I allowed her to come here knowing full well potential consequences. I trust her. Please don’t be angry with her.”

Luz sighed. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm down. “Okay… I’m sorry Eda. Make yourself at home.” She said sarcastically as she walked away and into her room.

Closing the door, she laid on her bed. She was feeling really confused as to how she was felt. She felt angry… but also scared. And maybe sad? Luz turned on her side and hugged her pillow. It had always been her and her mom. And now suddenly Eda shows up and brings her problems with her. Luz felt hot tears sting the corners of her eyes.  _ Maybe it reminds me of myself _ Luz thought to herself. She looked through her phone and found an old photo in her camera roll. Her face strained as she looked at the other girl in the picture. Old memories drowning her in discomfort. She closed out of her camera roll and turned to instagram. Finding an account that posted cute baby animals, she scrolled through, double tapping and liking some of the photos.

She thought of her lesson with Willow in the park. How they had done the machine of emotions and how Luz had to act happy to the prompt of puppies and kittens. She wondered if she could channel that same energy.  _ It’s just acting _ Luz thought. Of course she wouldn’t be able to replicate those feelings. It’s just acting. None of it was real, right?

While scrolling through the photos, Luz caught eye of a post with a young girl in it. She recognized the girl to be Willow and tapped on the photo. Sure enough, Willow was tagged. Clicking on the profile, Luz was brought to a page full of pictures of Willow, of her and her dads, and of her shooting on different sets. In all the photos, Willow seemed so happy. That’s what amazed Luz about her. She didn’t need to be the most famous actress in the world or work with an exceptionally prestigious company. Willow was so humble and genuine and kind. Luz wished she could be more like her.

Then Luz found an older selfie of two kids. The caption was “Acting lessons with this superstar! She’s gonna rule the world some day, watch out!” Willow was hugging the other kid tight. Luz tapped on the photo and was surprised to see that the kid was Amity. She went to Amity’s profile which was a lot different than Willow’s. There were a lot of posts. Some being ads and partnerships with different brands. Other posts were of her, her parents, and her siblings. Then there were some professional modeling photos. In all of them, Amity wore a different face. She seemed much more like the character she played in  _ The Owl House _ than who she was with Luz and Willow. She wondered if there were more faces to Amity. Hitting the follow button, she went back to Willow's page. 

Before she exited out of instagram, she saw another post of the two. This one was of Amity hugging Willow this time. It seemed to be in a child’s bedroom, balloons and presents all around. It was captioned, “#tbt to this one’s birthday party! We had so much fun, thank you for having me @amsweetbunny” Luz chuckled to herself at the old username. Now it was just “amityblight”. Luz wondered what Willow’s old usernames were. She knew she had some embarrassing ones of her own. Then, her screen changed to the call screen. It showed Amity’s contact name. Luz wondered why she was calling her. She decided to pick it up.

“Hey” Luz said.

“Hey! I wanted to check up on you, you clearly weren’t doing great when we parted.”

“Yeah… but y’know what makes me feel better?”

“What?”

Luz smirked against her phone. “Knowing your old username was ‘amsweetbunny’”

“Oh my god! Willow still hasn’t deleted that post?? I swear, I’m gonna kill her!”

“No don’t! It’s cute!” Luz laughed. The sound makes Amity calm down.

“Mmmm okay. But only because it made you feel better. I’m glad I could do that for you.”

“You always do.” Luz smiled before letting out a long sigh. Her chest still felt tight as she remembered what she was upset about. She tried to not show it but somehow Amity could tell, even over a call, that Luz still wasn’t feeling 100%.

“Hey” she started, sounding a little more serious but with a softness to her tone. “I won’t make you explain anything, that’s your choice. I just wanted to make sure you were doing okay. I do want to know if there’s anything I can do to help you.”

Luz sat and thought for a second. Her chest stiffened and she made a compromise in her brain. “Can you… can you just stay on the call with me? I don’t want to be alone.”

“Of course. Do you want to listen to music or talk?”

“Music… if that’s okay with you.”

“Don’t worry about that Luz, this is about you and helping you. Do you have some music? I really liked that one playlist you were listening to on the first day of filming.”

Luz used her phone to put on the lo fi tv theme song playlist she had. She did love this kind of music for when she’s feeling down. It was just a nice calm beat to focus on instead of other thoughts in her head. She heard the subtle sound of Amity breathing over the phone. Luz imagined her laying next to her on the bed. Pretending she wasn’t alone. Amity did the same, on her end, she had her earbuds in and her hair down. She laid against her pillows, eyes closed. She sunk into the music, letting her breathing slow and her feet tapped to the beat.

A while later, Luz checked her phone. The playlist was almost done. 

“Amity?” She said in a soft voice. Steady breathing came through the other end. Luz smiled as she realized Amity fell asleep. She thought about that. How a sleeping Amity would look. Her hair splayed across the pillows, her face still and peaceful. She thought about how cute she’d look. Luz felt some heat come to her face. She patted her cheeks and huffed. Shaking off the weird feeling she had in her gut, she whispered to the phone.

“Goodnight grocery girl, sleep well”

After hanging up, Luz closed her own eyes. Letting her mind drift, she slowly fell asleep safe and sound.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Does this count as hurt/ comfort? Lumity for the soul when you're depressed <3


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't pre-read this chapter before I posted it so if there are errors then I apologize :(
> 
> I still hope you like it though!
> 
> Please read the notes at the end of the chapter, thank you!

Luz awoke from her sleep and found herself tangled in her blankets. She grumbled as she detached herself from the mess of bedsheets, pillows, and blankets. She took a second to fully comprehend what was happening and what had happened. First, she noticed the extra blankets on the end of her bed that she had accidentally kicked off in her sleep. She groggily got up and walk around to the front of her bed, picking up the previously neatly folded blankets and walking to the door with them. That was when she noticed the second thing, a hot plate of scrambled eggs and a single piece of toast sitting on her nightstand. Her phone was also plugged in.

After putting the extra blankets back, she sat on her bed and nibbled on the toast. There had been a small sticky note on the edge of the plate that read, “Eat up, you skipped dinner last night.” 

When she crumpled up the sticky note and threw it in the trash bin next to her nightstand, she saw another sticky note on the other end of her nightstand. 

This one read, “Your phone was almost dead so I plugged it in for you.” 

The handwriting was a little scratchy and seemed rushed. Luz was finally coming to full consciousness. Her nose twitched as she smelled a strong egg smell from the kitchen and heard the sizzle of a frying pan. She picked up her plate of food and went to eat in the kitchen but stopped when she looked in the mirror.

She had slept in her clothes from last night. Luz groaned grumpily and changed into clean clothes. A simple t shirt from an acting summer camp she had gone to a few years back and some comfy running shorts. Finally making her way to the kitchen, she stopped in her tracks when she noticed her mother’s bag was gone from her room. As she wandered through the hall and to the kitchen she realized who had given her the blankets and the food and charged her phone.

“Howdy kiddo!” Eda said, raising a hand to wave and almost knocking over the frying pan full of scrambled eggs. She laughed nervously and looked at Luz with a crooked smile.

Luz sighed. “What time is it? Don’t we have a filming day today?”

“7:19 am, we don’t have to be at the studio until 9 am.”

A long groan could be heard from Luz, who slumped her shoulders forward dramatically. “My precious extra sleeping time.” She said, grasping at the air with her hands. Eda laughed, picking up her spatula and pointing it at Luz.

“You slept like a rock last night. I think you got all the sleep you’ll ever need.”

Luz glared at Eda to which the older actress retracted her spatula. “Anyways…” Eda started. “Camilia put me in charge of taking care of you until she comes home tonight. Did you like the eggs? How would you rate them? I’m trying a new recipe and I-”

“Ugh okay listen. First, thank you for the eggs, they were actually pretty good, like at least a 7 out of 10. Second, don’t think that sucking up to me is gonna make me just be ok with whatever… this is” Luz gestured to her and Eda now apparently living together. 

“Look kid, I wasn’t sucking up to you. I could care less what you think of me, but Camilia cares about you so I wanted to make sure you were ok. That’s all”

“You talk as if you’re her wife or something.”

Eda turned away, concealing a slight tinge of red on her cheeks. She sighed and rubbed her temples. “Listen, I wanted to go somewhere and I didn’t want to just leave you here so can you come with me? Please?”

“Me? Go with you? While there is a potential psychopath stalking you? Sure!” Luz said sarcastically. “Are you crazy??”

“Very, now come on. Unless you wanna sit around bored for another hour and a half. I promise you’ll like it.”

Luz didn’t have anything better to do. She convinced herself she was just going to make sure Eda didn’t get into trouble, but part of her wanted to know what it’s like a day in the life of a semi-famous actress like Eda. “Fine.”

Luz went back to her room to get her shoes on and grabbed her bag. This is such a bad idea she thought to herself.

Luz found herself at the grocery store with Eda who was wearing the equivalent to a full body camouflage suit. Similar to what Amity does, but more extreme. Her hair was tied up and hidden in a big hat and she wore big sunglasses as well as a face mask over her mouth. Her clothes were baggy and she held nothing expensive on herself except her phone. “This is what you thought I’d like.” Luz asked.

Eda muffled through her mask first but then pulled it down a tiny bit to say, “Well, no, but I had to pick up some groceries for dinner tonight. Your mom sent me a list. She said you’d know where to find things.” Eda handed Luz her phone which was open to a notes page with a list of ingredients. Some in english some in spanish.

“Yeah, I know where to get a lot of this stuff. We can split up, you get the stuff in english and I’ll work on the stuff in spanish.” Luz inputted her number into Eda’s phone and texted herself a picture of the shopping list. Handing the phone back to Eda, she pulled out her own phone and checked to make sure she got the message.

“Smart move kid, the sooner we get this done the sooner we can go that cool place I want to take you to.” Eda couldn’t be more prevaricate. She tried to be more excited and upbeat but Luz wasn’t having it.

“When we’re done we’ll meet back up at the registrars.” Luz said flatly. Eda frowned and nodded. As Luz walked away she crossed her arms. An uncomfortable feeling in her chest, she digressed in her own thoughts. She looked at her phone and the messages with Camilia she got the list from. Scrolling up a little, she shook her head and put her phone in her pocket. 

Luz walked around the store, finding and picking up the items easily. Only a few more and she’d be done. Her basket was getting a little heavy but she didn’t want to go back to Eda just yet. Maybe I’m being too harsh Luz thought. She set her basket down a little and stopped in the middle of an empty isle. Stuffing her hands in her pockets and tensing her shoulders, she said to herself, “If she were me, I would be mad too.” She thought for a second and opened up her phone. Glancing at a picture in her camera roll, she shut her eyes and stuffed her phone back in her pocket. 

Cringing and kicking her foot, she said, “If it’s your problem, don’t bring us into it!”. She kicked her foot again at the tile floor of the isle. “We’ll just end up hurt one way or another… “ with one final kick she heard the sound of plastic skim across the floor. Opening her eyes again, she saw a wrapped up chocolate bunny lying on the floor.

Luz took a breath and crouched down to pick it up. Staring at it for a second before putting it back on the shelf. She thought about Amity and how she was open and willing to help Luz, even without Luz making her problems explicit. She thought about how Amity only showed her kindness. About how they were friends and bent Amity was on making sure Luz was okay. Seemingly going out of her way to talk to her about it even without an invitation. Luz looked up. She grabbed a different chocolate bunny off the shelf, one that hadn’t previously been on the ground and under Luz’s shoe, and picked up her basket. She walked out of the isle and got the last few things before reaching the registers.

She saw Eda waiting patiently by one of the clerks. Once she noticed Luz approaching she straightened up.

“Hey, Luz I-” Eda started, quickly being cut off by Luz.

“Actually, Eda, I wanted to say sorry. Before anything else. I realize I was being… really rude earlier. And I wanted to say I’m sorry.” Luz looked at Eda with a genuinely sorry look, which surprised Eda herself.

“I… thank you Luz. But honestly, you did have a right to be upset with me. I understand that my decisions weren’t really fully thought through. It was selfish of me to barge in on your family and possibly put you in danger. So I too want to say sorry.”

Luz smiled for once at Eda this time. She nudged Eda in the side and looked down at her basket. Pulling out the chocolate bunny, she handed it to Eda.

“Truce?”

“Truce.”

Later, after the two were done checking out and well on their way, Luz perked up. “Sooooo, what was that place you wanted to show me.” Luz clasped her hands and looked at Eda with mischievous eyes. Eda rolled her eyes.

“Keep walking and you’ll find out.”

Soon enough, they had reached a far corner of Luz’s town that she had never seen before. They had walked to a dead end. A concrete wall surrounding three sides of a parking lot at the end of a street. Luz could see trees on the other side but questioned by Eda brought them there. She half worried that Eda was going to jump her.

“Calm down kid, I can tell by your expression you think I’m gonna jump you or something.”

“Wait you could tell?”

“Yeah, that’s one thing you could work on when we go back to the studio. While you’re acting, make sure your face reflects that. You don’t want to be speaking and moving great and then have your face be the opposite.”

Luz raised her eyebrows and tried to make a neutral face. She strained her jaw and felt the muscles in her face contort. “How is this?”

“Better, but now you look constipated.”

“Daww mann… “ Luz slumped over dramatically, waving her hands in the air.

Eda laughed. “Don’t worry about it kid, it takes time. I’ve been in the industry for a while, a lot longer than you, and I still sometimes struggle with the basics.”

“Really? You do?”

“Totally! All those famous and successful actors you see everywhere? They’ve messed up countless times. I’ve met a lot of them and trust me, they are far from perfect.”

“Nobody can be perfect. Anyways, what are we doing in a deadend parking lot then?”

Eda smirked and walked over to one corner of the parking lot. Using her nails to scrape at the moss and vines covering it, she revealed a medium sized gap in some wire behind a hole in the wall. “Ta daaa” Se exclaimed.

Luz crawled through. On the other side she saw a clearing in the forest with a few big rocks surrounding a dug out circle. The leaves of the trees hung over, shading the place from the sun. The trees next to the little campsite had carvings in them. A big long rock seemed to have been rolled between two trees to act as a bench or bed to lay on. Luz thought that would be a good bench to lay on and stargaze. She kept taking in her surroundings while Eda walked over to the campsite and dusted off one of the bigger rocks. With a sigh of relief she leaned against it and looked over to Luz.

“Cool?”

“So cool! What is this place?” Luz asked excitedly.

“A special place from my childhood. I’m sure you know my sister? Lilith?”

“Yeah, she's as famous as you!”

“Well, when us two ‘famous’ ladies were kids, we would sneak down here and play pretend. This is where we let our imaginations run wild. It’s also where I fell in love with acting. Lily and I would escape from the rest of the world and come up with our own little plays to put on.”

Luz awed at the story. She clasped her hands and looked up at Eda. “Did you invite your family? Did you start a show business here?”

“What? No! This was Lily and I’s secret place. It was special. The only audience we would have was various stuffed animals.” Eda looked around, allowing the nostalgia to hit her. “We had some good times here. And I wanted to bring you here to… well, share it with you. You’re welcome to come here and practice or just escape from whatever you may be dealing with here. It worked for me, I hope it does the same for you.”

“Why are you doing this all of a sudden? This seems like a really important place to you. Are you really okay with me intruding on it?”

“You aren’t intruding. I’m welcoming you in. I see a lot of myself in you Luz, and if I know myself, sometimes all I needed was a place to gather my thoughts. Where I could feel safe. I think you have a lot of potential, I hope I can help you with that. Starting with this.”

Eda was surprised as she felt a small body wrap around her own. She looked down to see Luz’s brown hair pressing against her. Eda softly smiled and hugged Luz back. “Thank you Eda” whispered Luz.

“No problem kiddo.”

The next thing they knew, they heard a soft rustle in the brush in the surrounding forest. Quickly they broke away from each other and looked around. They saw a black hooded figure sprinting away and towards the exit. Eda growled to herself and ran after the stranger. Luz assumed it was the stalker who had been tormenting her. Anger boiled up in Luz as she also ran after the two. Eda looked back and saw this, stopping Luz in her tracks. “Stay here Luz! I don’t want you to get hurt, they had their phone out, they could have gotten a picture.”

Luz scoffed. “How bad can one picture be?”

“Really bad, Luz. Really bad if you’re in this industry. Whether you’re a well known name… “ Eda motioned towards herself. “... or an up and coming debuting actress.” She motioned towards Luz. “Now just stay here, this is my problem and I’m going to handle it.”

And with that, Eda ran away. For the first time, Luz wished Eda had involved her in her problems. This time, instead of thinking Eda would bother her, she was more concerned with her safety. Luz’s shoulders tensed, wanting to run after Eda but understanding that if she didn't want her to come, it was for good reason. She let out a heaving breath and looked down. Sitting down on one of the rocks, she held her head in her hands and prayed that Eda would come back soon, safe and sound.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I am going to take the weekend off. Not feeling too great mentally and emotionally and I wanna be in a good headspace when I write. The new chapter will come out on Monday in the evening PST! I'll see you there :)
> 
> My art account on Instagram will be updated in the meantime if you wanna see boschlow art I'm working on, football amity, or enter my draw this in your style for hitting 100 followers! My twitter is more for my spontaneous thoughts if you wanna know how I'm doing^_^ Both are Keysstylus
> 
> Love you <3 Drink some water today, do something you enjoy, and check up on your friends. And if you don't have friends, dm me on my social media! I wanna be your friend! See you Monday!


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eda is back bay-beeee

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok! I'm back! I'm feeling better and thank you for the nice comments the last chapter about taking care of myself. I promise I am trying to do better at that. Thank you for reading! I hope you like this chapter ^_^

Eda stumbled back through the opening in the fence. She noticed Luz was sitting on one of the rocks, tapping her fingers nervously on her knee. Her head turned away. A look of worry still seen on her face. Eda regained her composure and walked over to Luz.

“Well… bad news, they got away. Good news, I got this.”

Luz looked over and saw Eda holding up a piece of black fabric. It was tiny but it was something. Luz stood up and inspected the fabric, wondering if she could find anything more. As she was handed it by Eda, she felt a warm liquid on her fingertips from the fabric. After a second she recognized red on her hand and realized it was blood. Her eyes widened as she looked to Eda with panic on her face.

“Don’t worry, kid, they probably scratched themself when something tore this part off.” Eda crossed her arms and sighed. Frustrated, she pondered on how to capture this creep. They had a bit of evidence but she wondered if it’d be enough to persuade the police to do a DNA scan. Suddenly, Eda felt her face tense as hot liquid surfaced in her eyes. She turned away from Luz, not wanting her to see. She kept saying to herself that if she hadn’t done this or hadn’t done that, that Luz wouldn’t have been involved. That photo wouldn’t have been taken and Luz wouldn’t need to deal with this. Luz didn’t even quite understand the fear of the media that Eda had. Eda hoped that Luz never saw that side of the media. Then, a small hand on Eda’s shoulder.

“We’ll get them. I know we will.” Luz said, giving Eda a hopeful and determined look. 

Eda sniffed, trying to calm down before turning to look at Luz. “Thanks kiddo.”

Luz didn’t exactly know how they would catch them. She thought through the story Eda told and went through any possible evidence. “Eda, have you ever gotten a good look at them?”

“Not exactly. I know that they’re about 5’ 11” and have medium length dark brown hair. It sticks out of their hood. But they always hid their face.”

“Do you have security cameras on your house?” Luz asked.

“I do, but the creep smashed them while I was asleep. He kept me in my house for days.”

“You could have called the police? Or told Dana about it?”

“I was just… scared. I didn’t trust them. I had barely known Dana aside from work relations. And the police… well they haven't exactly been the most reliable in past experiences.”

“Yeah, I can understand that. Well, I think if we went to the police now, we’d be able to make an argument for this creep right?”

“Maybe, I’ll get my lawyers ready. Too bad bringing you to this secret place wasn’t so secret.”

Luz watched as Eda looked away and down at the ground. Even for a great actress, Luz could tell Eda felt guilty. “Hey, I know it’s not the same… and probably doesn’t hold the same weight as this place… but maybe, my mom and I can supply a new secret place for you.”

“Luz… you’ve done enough for me. I don’t think I should continue to drag you into this.”

“Well that creep got a picture of me so now I’m dragged into this. I would rather you be at risk but with me and my mom than be by yourself.”

“Thanks Luz…” Eda smiled a little bit. Luz held out her hand, pinky extended.

“I pinky promise to make a new secret place for you at my house.”

Eda scoffed and laughed. Going along with it, she extended her own pinky and wrapped it around Luz’s. Eda didn’t quite understand it, but even after everything, Luz turned out to stay positive and driven. Luz walked away as Eda stared over at one of the trees. She went over and ran her fingers over the carved wood. Her fingertips passed over a big L as she smiled fondly at it. Luz gestured for Eda to follow her and so Eda left the tree, the feeling of it’s bark still on her fingers. The two crawled back through the hole in the fence and headed to the studio.

  
  
  
  


“Oh thank god!” Dana exclaimed when she saw Eda walk through the door with Luz. She ran over and clasped her arms around Eda’s neck, dragging her down to her level. Eda struggled a bit in Dana’s grasp but eventually gave up. As soon as Dana let go, the rest of the crew bombarded Eda with questions and positive remarks. Some wanted to know what had happened to her, others were just glad she was back safe and sound. Eda answered them slowly, being careful not to let out too much information. Still not trusting everyone just yet. She glanced over at Luz who was beaming. Eda smiled softly at the girl and made her way through to get started filming. 

Since Eda was back they Dana changed the scenes for the day to all of Eda and King’s B Plot. Luz looked around and realized that suddenly, the crew seem fired up to film. Everyone seemed stoked, motivated, and relieved. The energy of the room getting Luz pumped up herself. She only had two scenes with Eda, one at the beginning and one at the end. The only other scene she had to shoot was the lunchroom scene with Willow, Gus, and Amity.

As Luz was performing the scenes with Eda at the beginning, she tried to think of how she felt at the beginning of her day. How angry she was at Eda and how disappointed she felt because of it.

“I didn’t finish school and look at me.” Eda said, holding up a pickaxe as she stood in the middle of trash, smiling.

Luz didn’t even laugh. She was still stuck in her thoughts about this morning. Luckily it worked for the scene. Eda walked over to her, both being impressed with Luz’s acting and also wondering if she was okay.

“Hey, here’s a lesson.” Eda grabbed Luz’s hand and stuck it in a pot of green slime. “A great witch is resourceful! Like this!”

The cold liquid snapped Luz out of her thoughts and refocus on her next lines. “Oh heyyy, greasy slimeball.” She said with a tinge of uncertainty in her voice.

“Use your slimeball wisely, young witch” Eda said as she wrapped her hands around Luz’s. This time Luz chuckled a little bit, smiling through it. Eda paused and smiled at Luz, happy to see that smile. The obvious pause and unwarranted laugh from Luz caused them to reshoot the scene, but the two were fine with that as long as they were sure the other was okay.

  
  
  
  


After Luz finished her scene with Eda, it was time for the Plot B scenes which did not include her. She walked away to watch Eda act, spotting a ledge off to the side of the room that she could sit on. The space seemed crowded but it was just a tangle of wires and filming equipment. It was all black so Luz almost tripped on a stray wire on her way over the ledge. Luckily she didn’t because that would have brought one of the sound boards crashing down on her. Instead, she tripped on a much less important box of props.They splayed across the floor with a loud crash which made everyone turn. What they expected was to see Luz on the ground in the middle of it all. What they saw however, was Amity holding Luz up. Amity looked around and quickly dropped Luz, allowing her to fall to the ground.

“Hey!” Luz said, rubbing her hip.

“Sorry, sorry!” Amity said, her face becoming red from embarrassment. The crew went back to work, a few chuckling, others smirking.

Amity held out a hand to Luz to help her up. Luz grabbed it and pulled herself up, almost tripping on one of the spilled props and toppling over on Amity. Luckily she caught herself before that happened. Amity reached down to put the props back in the box quietly. She looked over to Luz who was doing the same. They both eyed an otter onesie and gave each other a quizzical look.

“Why is there an otter onesie in the props? Wouldn’t that be on the outfit rack?” Amity whispered to Luz.

“I know right! We can go stop by to ask if it’s supposed to be with them?” Luz suggested, picking up the onesie.

“Good plan, we should also figure out where this goes because it definitely doesn’t look like ours.” Amity held a strange gold and brown treasure box with a blue, purple, and green gem in it.

“Oh! I think that’s the Amphibia cast’s” Luz pointed at the frog and lily pad designs. “See? Amphibia? Like Amphibians.”

“I got it Luz. Is that another show?”

“Yeah! It's also on Disney Channel. It’s about frogs, and frogs are pretty cool.”

Amity laughed. “Frogs  _ are _ pretty cool, aren’t they.” She looked between the box in her hands and the onesie in Luz’s. “Looks like we’ve got some stuff to do while we wait to get back on set, huh?”

“Yep! It’s like an epic quest!”

“Or just a reverse scavenger hunt.”

The two giggled as they exited the room. First heading to the costume designers and outfit closet. As they walked through the halls of the studio they looked around at the signs to make sure they were going the right way. Luz got a little mixed up sometimes, making Amity have to drag her in the right direction. Soon enough, they found their way to the right area of the studio. They saw people rolling whole racks of outfits by them as they walked further down the hallway. The other side of the hallway had big wide windows that let a lot of natural light into the building. The view outside was nothing to look at, just the concrete jungle of LA. However, the light reflected off of the white concrete and illuminated Amity’s face. Luz followed the path over to gaze at Amity peacefully walking next to her. She didn’t seem to be focusing on anything, only thinking.  _ She's always thinking… I wonder what she's thinking. _ Luz thought. She tilted her head and gave Amity a funny look. The girl took notice and turned her head toward Luz.

“Yes?”

“Whatcha thinking about?”

“Nothing.”

“You don’t look like you’re thinking about nothing.”

Amity sighed and stopped walking. “I’m thinking about… last night.”

“Oh.” Luz felt dread in her chest as she expected Amity to talk about how Luz should have just kept her problems to herself. But instead she saw Amity give her a soft smile.

“Y’know… I really liked that. I know we only did it because you weren’t feeling great, but to be honest, it made me feel better too. I think that was the best sleep I’ve gotten in a while. So… thanks Luz.”

“Amity, you don’t need to thank me. I’m just glad I was able to help you out, I owe you it. I can send you the playlist if you wanna use it more for sleep.”

“That’d be nice. Thanks. Well… the music was really good but I think it was like what you talked about… y’know, having someone there. Not being alone.”

“Aw Amity, are you okay? Do you want me to call you at night and just keep you company while you fall asleep? If it helps you I’ll gladly do it. Sleep is important!”

“I know, I know. I think I’d like that. Thanks.”

“You say thanks a lot.” Luz teased, nudging Amity in the arm.

“Well what am I supposed to say?” Amity laughed.

They walked into the outfit room and asked if the otter onesie was theirs. They said they had misplaced it somehow and thanked Luz and Amity for bringing it back. The two gave a little high five to each other as they went to their next drop off spot. Again, walking the long halls trying to find the Amphibia area. As soon as they found it, they gave the box to the prop department. Luz felt her phone vibrate and pulled it out. 

_ Willow: Dana is looking for you, we’re shooting the ending scene _

“Dang that was quick!” Amity said.

“It looks like Eda works efficiently. Okay let's go! Gotta hurry back.” Luz grabbed Amity’s hand and started jogging through the studio back to the area for The Owl House.

  
  
  


As soon as Luz got there, she saw Eda, Willow, and Gus waiting on stage. They smirked at one each other as they nodded towards the pot of abomination goo. Luz groaned. As she walked over, Amity smiled and giggled as she watched Luz get into the pot. She only had to get the goo on her which was even better. Amity pulled out her phone and took a quick picture of Eda, Willow, and Gus teasing Luz. Luz saw and pointed a gooey finger at Amity.

“Hey! No! Delete that!” Amity just couldn’t stop laughing. Before Luz could get to her, Dana told them that they were going to start filming.

Luz rolled her eyes and grinned. She held no grudge towards Amity over the photo, she hoped Amity knew she was joking. As the cameras started, Luz ran towards Eda engulfing her in a gooey hug. In her head she called it payback for teasing her just a minute ago. Eda groaned and made a disgusted face.

“Eugh what is this? I never understand when you do this!” exclaimed Eda.

“Your lesson worked! Keeping junk in my pocket saved my life! Oh no! My new friends! They’re in danger!”

Next, Willow ran into frame yelling, “Luuuuuz!” along with Guz trailing behind her. They all got into a group hug with Eda giving them a confused look saying “Seriously, what- what is that?”

Amity watched from afar. She couldn’t stop smiling at this interaction between them all. She wished she had a part in this scene so she could join in. Her eyes went from Eda’s hilarious confusion, to the sweet hug the three others shared, to Willow breaking away and twirling her uniform. In editing they’ll make it look like her sleeves and leggings changed but Amity admired how well Willow could act without the actual change being present. She crossed her arms and leaned against the wall behind her. Luz tackled Willow with a hug and twirled around screaming and cheering. Amity blushed as she watched the adorable dork get into her excitement. As Luz came down from her excitement, she glanced at Amity before looking over to Gus.

“Oh, what about Amity?”

“Last we saw, she was asking Bump if today could count as extra credit.” Guz replied.

Amity scoffed to herself, smiling and rolling her eyes. As the scene wrapped up, Luz and the others all got together. Luz looked around at her fellow actors and smiled. Then she had an idea.

“Heyyy, you know what?”

“What?” Willow asked.

“I have all of your guys’ phone numbers… why don’t we make a group chat? We can add more people when we meet them!”

“Sounds like a good idea to me.” Amity said.

“Yeah count me out, I would rather not have my phone blow up with you teenagers texting each other.” Eda said, starting to walk away.

“Suit yourself, Owl Lady.” Guz teased.

Luz quickly put their numbers together in a group chat and sent a quick text to make sure everyone got it. With a thumbs up from the other three, Luz tapped on the name of the group chat, changing it to, “The Owl Kids”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So as an early birthday present my parents got me a 9 week old kitten and we named her Luna <3 She is a big ball of energy and I love her. On another note, I will be changing my update schedule to every other day. So that's Monday, Wednesday, Friday I will update and then I'll post either on Saturday or Sunday, whichever works best for me. Updates will always come out on my social media about when I update so look out for that if this is confusing. Thank you so much for reading, I hope you all have a wonderful day or night <3


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay i have so many notes to put here so please make sure to read them and the ones after the chapter! They are important!  
> -  
> First of all, this chapter is the longest chapter yet. I had way too many small ideas and I felt like it'd feel awkward if they were all separate chapters. I even had to cut this chapter short and extend it to the next haha. I like the ending of this chapter though ;)
> 
> Secondly, the Lumity episodes in the show will obviously have more to them. Some of the smaller episodes or fillers I will write small blurbs for in one chapter and skip to the next lumity episode. This is first and foremost a Lumity fanfic, but I like to add other things that may or may not come up later;)
> 
> Next, I AM HOLDING A Draw This In Your Style contest on my Instagram!! Only my Instagram, sorry twitter users. It's because I hit 100 (And then 200!!) followers on my art account! So thank you so much! There will be prizes so read the end of chapter notes for more information
> 
> Lastly, I will have art for this chapter and the next chapter posted to my Instagram so make sure to follow me there to see it. I will not include it in the actual chapters. It's just a fun add on and visual. Think of it like promo art ;) But I will not draw art for every chapter. Only if there is a scene that is especially important, funny, or cute.
> 
> That's all of my notes! Thank you for reading and PLEASE read the info at the end of the chapter about the Draw This In Your Style!! I hope you enjoy the chapter! (Disclaimer; if you see "convention" instead of "covention" it's because my computer autocorrected it T^T)

Another week had passed by The Owl Crew. Eda visited Camilia and Luz often, still aware that she could be putting them in danger but having a green light from the Nocedas. Camilia had heard about the incident with the creep and had been mad at Eda at first. Of course, her light came before anything else. She was surprised to see that Luz was defending Eda, saying that Eda had no control over the situation and that the creep doesn’t control her life. That she can still go out and have fun and that it was Luz’s choice to go with her. Camilia had seen a change of heart in that moment. Her brow relaxed and her jaw loosened. Letting go of the tension in her head and the protective motherly instincts in her, she apologized to Eda for lashing out. Eda promised Camilia that she’d look into the case and catch the creep so she wouldn’t have to worry about her daughter. Now, another half a week later, Eda came to the Noceda house frustrated. 

Things had been slow going. Eda could finally sleep okay in her own home because the creep got scared off when they almost got caught. Eda hadn’t seen them in a while but was paranoid that they were still watching her. She was even more paranoid that they could be planning to use the Nocedas against her. The whole thing was messy and she needed to take her mind off of it. Not knowing who else to talk to, she had come to Luz.

“So I went to the police a week ago.” Eda started.

“That’s good!” Luz said as she sat down at the kitchen table, pouring herself some cereal and drenching it in soy milk. She was glad her mother had already left for work. She’d probably tell Luz to stop wasting the milk.

“Well… I guess. Except, at first they thought the fabric was too small and that I didn’t have enough evidence that someone was actually stalking me. When they asked me when the last time I saw the creep, I couldn’t lie and told them not since the incident in the forest. They told me they thought he had just gone away but… but I don’t feel like they’re gone!”

Luz ate a spoonful of her cereal as she listened to Eda. Chewing softly as she watched Eda cross her arms and slump back in her chair, throwing her head back and groaning.

“It feels like someone is constantly watching me… and that’s not just the usual pressure of this industry.” Eda said.

“So did you end up walking away? Did the police really not allow you to get it checked?”

“Oh I made them check it alright. But, since my case technically isn’t official and DNA scans take a while to get processed, they said I won’t know for a few more weeks. It’s just a waiting game. A stupid and tireless waiting game.”

“I’m sorry about that Eda… maybe acting today will get your mind off of it? We’re filming Covention right?” Luz said as she finished her cereal. Rinsing the bowl and putting it in the dishwasher, she checked the time. If they were to walk, they’d need to leave soon to make it to the studio on time.

“Oh yeah, we are. We both have fight scenes right? That’ll be fun!”

“I saw that your sister is back! Isn’t she acting with us today? She’s in the cast, right?” Luz said excitedly.

“Oh yeah, Lily said she was gonna come later today and so Dana probably won’t film the fight scenes until after lunch.” As Eda watched Luz walk back over to the table she snorted and laughed at her. “Kid you forgot the cereal again.”

Luz looked over her shoulder and saw the cereal box laying out on the counter again. The soy milk next to it with it’s cap off. Luz groaned. “How do I always do this??”

“Honestly I don’t know. You were responsible enough to put the dishes away but forgot the cereal and milk.”

“I know I know, it’s weird, I’m weird, I don’t know why or how I do these things.” Luz said as she put away her breakfast.

“Well us weirdos have to stick together, right?” Eda laughed as she cornily referenced her character’s line to Luz’s in the first episode.

Luz scoffed and giggled finding it a little cringey but great nonetheless. “Anyways, do you know why Lilith has to come later in the day?”

“Probably just busy with her own stuff. I think she’s giving private acting lessons to young people like you. Honestly, I wouldn’t know. She never updates her instagram and barely calls me.”

“Wait, she has instagram? What’s her user??” Luz said, grabbing her phone.

Eda scoffed. “The most generic thing ever, it’s just lil-” Eda stopped when she saw Luz looking concerningly serious at her phone. Her thumbs tapped at the screen frantically and her brows furrowed. “Uh… kid? You okay?”

“Yeah… Gus said that there’s an article about me that’s blowing up right now. Or… well, a few. He sent me the link.”

Luz clicked on the link and began to read. The first thing she saw was a photo taken of her and Eda in the forest. She could only assume that this was the creep. But then she saw the profile picture of the author. This person had really short blonde hair and didn’t seem sketchy at all. When she inspected the credit to the photo, it said that they got it from an anonymous reader. Luz felt her stomach twist and turn as she scrolled through the article. The title read, “EDA CLAWTHORNE SPOTTED WITH THE OWL HOUSE ACTOR?”

The article went on to talk about Eda’s recent disappearance socially. How there hadn’t been many sightings of her. Luz assumed it was because of the creep making Eda too worried to leave her house. Then the article talked about Eda’s connections to Dana. A tweet from Dana about working on The Owl House was embedded into the article as they talked about assuming Eda would play a role in the show. Then came the section about Luz. They didn’t know her name so they just referred to her as a “young actress”. The article talked about Luz possibly being in the owl house however they didn’t know if she’d be a major or minor role. Being spotted with Eda, however, sways them in favor of Luz being a major character. Luz sighed. The cat was out of the bag. She tried to keep a positive outlook and went to instagram to look for Lilith’s account. She was met with hundreds of random people wanting to follow her. From what she could tell, they all seemed to be reporters from various news outlets.

“It’s… it’s the photo of us.” Luz said slowly. She honestly didn’t know what to say really. “Eda… everyone is- … we’re not even done filming the fifth episode and people are already going to know me.”

Luz turned her phone around and showed Eda the reporters trying to contact her to talk to her. She went into panic mode. Luz’s heart dropped. She thought she’d be excited to get recognition for her acting. Like all of her favorite actors seemed to do. She wanted to have fans that she could make smile like her role models did for her. So then, why, right now, did she feel so worried. Her head raced back to the beginning of filming The Owl House. How scared she was of disappointing Dana. How inexperienced and unqualified she felt for this role. Her heart pounded and her palms grew sweaty as she realized that there was going to be a much bigger audience watching her and sooner than she had previously thought.

Eda stood up and walked over to Luz. She placed a gentle hand on Luz’s shoulder and gave her a concerned look. “Kid, you’re gonna do great. Sure, they know about you now. And you know what you’re gonna show them? You’re gonna show them why you got this role!”

Luz looked up at Eda. From all of Eda’s experience with acting, she seemed to both be really good at concealing her own emotions and telling the emotions of other people. Luz’s breath caught in her throat as her mind ran around, thinking about being good enough and how this knowledge will affect her acting from now on and even further how that would affect the show and her disappointing Dana and her friends. It went around and around in circles. To Luz, it felt like everything was connected and suddenly she felt the pressure of the industry.

“Luz.” Eda said sternly. Luz jumped. She bit her lip nervously and couldn’t stare Eda in the eye.

“Yeah?”

Eda’s voice softened as she crouched a little bit. “Like you said, let's head to the studio. Hopefully acting will just take your mind off of it. Let’s just have fun for today, okay? One day at a time.”

Luz nodded, still looking away. She didn’t realize she was holding her breath until she let out a cough. The two walked out and started heading to the studio. The whole time, Luz was painfully aware that she was out now. Her name was out and she had been shoved into debuting early. All because of that creep. While she was both scared and anxious, she also felt rage as she wondered why the creep did it and how they could catch them and make them pay.

  
  
  


When they got to the studio, multiple people came up to Luz to ask if she was okay. They all understood how hard it can be to have to deal with the media butting their head into things. Luz reassured them that she was fine and gave a smile. Eventually, people spread that among themselves and stopped bothering her with it. Luz was thankful for that; she didn’t think it helped her that much. It was nice to know people cared but all it did was make her think about it more. All she wanted to do was focus on acting.

Luz met up with Willow and Gus and together they walked to the green screen shooting room. They were familiar with the route by now. They were going to work on the smaller scenes today since the bulk of the episode was in the covention. The rest of the week and next week they planned to shoot everything else. Luz had something to look forward to today through the business of production. They wanted to finally film the intro and outro to the show today! They were waiting until they had a good clear day to do it and when everyone’s characters had been established. It was going to be crazy since it was mostly green screen and Luz had to fly through the air on Eda’s staff at one point.

After going through hair and makeup, Luz put on her signature outfit. She had recently stopped cringing at the jean shorts over her leggings since she assumed she’d just have to put up with them and there's no point in hating them. She gave one last look at herself in the mirror. Taking in a deep breath and relaxing her shoulders, she exhaled with a grunt as she tried to look at herself determined. Pushing away all other thoughts, she tried to focus on the episode today. It was going to be one of the more long and stressful work days for everyone on set and Luz had to do her part to make it go as smoothly as possible. Turning on her heel, she walked out of the dressing room and straight to set.

So far, the scene has been going ok. Luz would mess up on her lines and she’d mentally tell herself to get it together. She was trying to put a lot of pressure on herself and push herself to do her absolute best today, hoping it would cancel out her previous underlying feelings of inadequacy. They had been trying to shoot the opening scene of Luz reading The Good Witch Azura to King, but for some reason Luz couldn’t give her usual spunk to the character. Dana called a break, talking to the directors about scrapping some lines or trying to change things around. Luz saw this and mentally kicked herself. She felt like they wouldn’t have needed to do that if she had just been better and more focused. She looked down at the The Good Witch Azura book in her hands and walked off set to sit.

She studied every page, every line, and every word of the part she was to read in the scene. Making different voices while she read and mumbling to herself about it not fitting right. She groaned in frustration and almost threw the book to the side, however, she saw Gus approaching her and decided not to.

“Hey, Luz! Willow is talking to Amity right now, I’m not sure what. She said it was private. So I came to find you. How are you?”

“I’m doing okay.” Luz said, her voice dry and strained as she looked back at the book.

“Ooo can I see?” Gus said, gesturing to the book.

“Uhh sure?”

Gus flipped through a few of the pages, marvelling at the artwork. “Wow, this makes me want to draw the characters so badly!”

“Yeah, they are pretty well designed.” Luz said, agreeing with Gus. She thought about the characters and how they looked. What the pages depicted them as and how that’d look if it were real life.

“Sometimes when I’m studying with my dad, I like to draw little notes in the corner of my papers. It helps me remember things.” Gus said, handing the book back to Luz.

“Really? When I was in public school, I drew in my homework and it’d always distract me.”

“Well, I mean, everyone is different. Maybe you do better taking wordy notes. Anyways, I should probably check on Willow. You wanna come?”

“Sorry Gus, not right now. I have to make sure I nail this scene when we get back on set.”

“Ok then, we’ll be over there if you need us.” And with that, Gus walked away. Luz thought about what he had said. She grabbed her bag and pulled out a pencil. Analyzing the lines, she started scribbling little blurbs on text in the margins. Eventually, she erased them all and groaned again.

“This is doing nothing for me.” She said to herself. She glanced at the picture of Hecate and Azura fighting. Gus was right, the artwork was really amazing. Before she knew it, she was doodling a little Hecate and Azura fighting in the corner. “Gah! Distracted again, I knew it! Come on Luz!” She said to herself, putting her hand to her forehead. She thought about Eda for a second and wondered what she would do. The thought about her acting in I Was A Teenage Abomination. Her thoughts wandered to the scene they shot at the trash slug. She laughed a little as she remembered the slimeball scene and how Eda had cheered her up with it.

“Good witches are resourceful…” Luz said to herself. She took one last look at the drawing and her brain sparked an idea. The crew called everyone back to set and they began to refilm the opening scene. Luz, instead of thinking of the lines, thought of a visual depiction of Azura and Hecate. She used her voice to convey the imagery in her head and recited her lines. They weren’t calling cut so she assumed it was okay. 

After Alex said King’s line, Luz shoved the corner of the book a little closer to King and the camera. “Look! I even made a flipbook!” and she flipped the pages she drew on. Since the camera was on the book, she looked over to Dana who was smiling at the added scene. Luz felt relief fill her up as she continued with the scene with Willow and Gus now running into frame. While they recited their lines, Luz reflected on her decision. She was glad that worked well and hopefully it impressed Dana.

  
  
  
  


Once they were done filming, they moved onto the intro for the series. T. J. Hill had created some amazing music for both the intro and outro credit sequence. Luz made sure to ask him for the mp3 so she could add it to her new The Owl House playlist. She thought it’d be fun to create a playlist of songs that make her think of acting on the show. Luz thought the intro was so cool. It was just a lot of little scenes but when she heard about how it was going to all come together, she realized that this was going to be like no other Disney show. She admired Dana's creativity as she worked. Finally, the green screen chase scene through the market.

Luz were sitting on Eda’s staff which was being held up by wires that the editing crew would cut out. The film crew had a massive camera that extended up and could follow her through the air. All Luz had to do was hold on. Eda, Willow, and Gus watched from below since Luz was going to swoop down and high five Gus before she picked up Eda. Amity watched closely from the side, praying to god that Luz didn’t do anything stupid. 

When Dana called action and the staff started moving quickly, Luz blasted through a curtain and saw the maera in front of her on the other side. The wires angled Luz downward so she could swoop and say hi to Gus and Willow before hitting the guards off of their feet and Eda jumping on. Luz was glad all she had to do was hold on and she didn’t have Eda’s job. The camera panned so that it showed the two following the ground before the staff angled up and back into the air. 

The next part was tricky. There was going to be a worm monster that's added in by the effects team and Luz is supposed to veer to the right to escape it. Luz swung her body to mimic her changing directions and the weight on one side caused her to slip and tumble around. The was now hanging on the broom as the wires kept moving it towards the camera. Luz screamed and kicked, panicking as she noticed how high up she was. She knocked into the camera and fell down.

“Luz!” Everyone in the room exclaimed. Dana hadn’t even called cut and most of the crew, Gus, Willow, and Amity were running to catch her. Eventually, Luz felt herself fall on 3 bodies and looked down to see Amity, Willow, and Gus squashed beneath her. Luz quickly got up off of them and covered her mouth. “Oh my god, guys! I’m so sorry!”

Willow got up and rubbed her back. “Why are you saying sorry? We were the ones who-”

“LUZ I SWEAR TO GOD BE MORE CAREFUL” Screamed Amity as she got up and put her hands on Luz’s shoulders shaking her angrily.

“Sorry, sorry!” Luz said as she put her hands up in defense of Amity’s wrath. “Nice to know you care about me so much though.” Luz teased.

Amity was no longer cool and collected. The sight of Luz falling through the air stuck in her mind. “OF COURSE I CARE ABOUT YOU, YOU DUMBASS!! I-” Amity looked around at the crew watching her. She cleared her throat and took her hands off of Luz, recomposing herself. “You’re the main character so you can’t get injured.” Amity mumbled, looking away from Luz. “Just be more careful, okay?”

Luz chuckled, “Ok Am, I will, I promise”

Dana had not gotten up from her seat and walked over to the kids. “Okay so I know that was an accident and you almost got injured but-”

“Are you gonna make her do it again???” Amity, Willow, and Gus screamed.

“What? No! I was gonna say that it was a perfect accident. I was rewatching the film while you guys were talking and when Luz fell and hit the camera it fits as a perfect transition into the next part of the intro! Good job Luz!”

Luz stared in disbelief. “Thanks” she said sarcastically. Her almost getting hurt was a good thing. It was almost funny. She was just glad she didn’t have to do it again.

They wrapped up filming the intro and the outro was really easy for Luz to film. All she had to do was walk along a green screen, turning around every now and then or pulling up her hood. At the end, she filmed a scene where she ran up to Eda and King as they waved so it’s difficulty was the polar opposite of the chase scene. When everyone had finished up, the crew went on a lunch break. They were all going to meet up at a huge event hall where they were going to set up the stands for the witch covention. There was a huge room with bleachers that they could use for the witch duel too so while the cast got lunch together, the crew was moving some equipment over to the new location.

  
  
  
  


After lunch, Luz got a ride with Willow to the event hall where they were going to film. In the car she was practicing her lines and Willow was helping her clean them up or give her suggestions. Most of the time though they were jamming out to Britney Spears and Lady Gaga. Willow wanted to ask Luz about the article but decided against it. She knew Luz didn’t want to think about it and Willow trusted it wasn’t a big enough issue to have reporters coming after her for more information. Finally, they got to their destination. Luz unplugged her phone and got out of the car. As they walked through the doors and found the area where the covention was set up, Luz gasped and stared in awe at the scene.

“This is so cool! How are they going to fit all of the equipment?” Luz asked as she turned to Willow. Luz had only ever been at the main Disney studio where it was a black room and different sets were changed in the background. When they were filming there, there was lots of lights and cameras, and tech things that Luz couldn’t name but looked all professional. She did know that it took up a lot of room.

“They’re only using the big microphone and one camera. The film crew will use a stabilizer to walk around with it with us and for other scenes they put it on a vehicle and drive around with it. When we film the witch duel there will be more equipment to help us with the stunts.”

“Ohhhh awesome!”

The two walked around, looking at all of the stands for a few minutes. Then they found Eda, who was wearing some sort of hood or scarf that was stuffed. They assumed it was for the scene. They walked over but before they could say hi, Eda perked up and waved past them. Luz and Willow turned around to see an older woman with dark blue hair and a pale complexion. She had a professional looking pantsuit on and was just walking into the building. She wore similar sunglasses to Amity’s but no mask. She noticed Eda waving in her direction and stopped in her tracks.

“Lily!” Eda yelled as she ran towards the girl.

“Eda.” Lilith said, clenching her fists, sounding angry.

“Lily?” Eda slowed down before reaching her, giving her a confused and concerned look.

“EDA!!” Lilith took off her sunglasses, revealing terrifyingly mad eyes. She started sprinting towards Eda, who promptly turned around and ran away.

Luz and Willow just stood and blinked for a second trying to process the blur of Eda and Lilith running past them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes that was a reference to Madagascar. ALSO!! Art of Lilith's outfit is up on my Instagram!! Lilith in a suit is... wow I'm gay.  
> -  
> ANYWAYS, here is the info on the Draw This In Your Style contest on my Instagram! All of this information is also on a post in my Instagram.
> 
> The art is a scene from this fanfic! Shoutout to @/_boo_you_suck_ on insta for giving me the inspiration to draw it :D From my poll on insta, it seems you guys want it to be a contest oh hoho I like you guys! So here are the  
> ✨RULES:  
> -MUST be posted to Instagram with a public account using the hashtag #keys200dtiys  
> \- MUST tag me in the post and in the caption  
> \- MUST add the original art as one of the slides (idc if it's the first or last, just please add it)  
> \- Follow this prompt:  
> Amity and Luz call each other and fall asleep listening to music, amity fell asleep first  
> \- You can change the pose or have amity not be upside down 😂 but it should still seem like they're in different rooms  
> \- you can add more details or take out details if you want (i just thought it'd be cute if amity cuddled a bunny pillow)  
> \- clothes must be the same and amity's hair must be down  
> ✨PRIZES: (only one per placement)  
> ❤️First place:  
> \- free art from me, can be full color and shaded, a sketch, lumity, or your oc! Whatever you want!  
> \- a cameo in my fanfic!  
> \- i'll follow you  
> \- like spam!! Idc how many posts you have I will like them all >:3  
> \- your art will be added to my highlights for eternity  
> 💕2nd place  
> \- i'll draw you a headshot of anyone you want! Fictional or not  
> \- i'll follow you  
> \- like spam!! Idc how many posts you have I will like them all >:3  
> \- your art will be added to my highlights for eternity  
> 💖Third place:  
> \- i'll follow you  
> \- like spam!! Idc how many posts you have I will like them all >:3  
> \- your art will be added to my highlights for eternity
> 
> ✨DEADLINE:  
> October 6th!! I'm giving y'all 3 weeks😂 I think that's plenty of time but by the third week if you need more time I will hold a poll to gauge if I should add another week. I hope you guys have fun with it!! This is my first dtiys :P Thank you for 200!!


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Witch's Duel!! And a fidget spinner ;)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We hit 300 on my insta *cries* Thank you so much! I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Luz and Willow eventually snapped out of their trance and chased after the two Clawthorne sisters. When they found the two of them, Lilith was no longer trying to catch Eda and even better, she wasn’t trying to kill Eda. As Luz and Willow stepped closer they heard Lilith say, “What were you thinking??”

Eda crossed her arms and scoffed. “Yeah, love you too sis.”

“Eda, you couldn’t have been more careless?? If there’s already some crazed fan out their following you around, you don’t bring a kid with you out in public!!”

“I was trying to be careful! I wore my stupid camo suit like mom and dad always wanted. Can you get off my case?”

“You even brought them to our secret place, I just-” Lilith rubbed her brow, letting out a deep sigh. “You can’t really fix this anymore, now that the photo is out there. What happened to laying low? Do you even remember what happened last time-”

“Of course I remember Lilith!” Eda screamed desperately. Luz winced, she had never really seen Eda so frustrated. This time, instead of Eda being able to tell what Luz was feeling, Luz could tell Eda was upset with herself. Luz wanted to go and hug Eda but Lilith was already doing that now. She watched the two sisters embrace each other as Eda cried softly on her sister’s shoulder.

“I never want something like that to happen again.” Eda sniffled.

“It won’t, we’re lucky nothing bad happened this time. Only a little press.” Lilith said softer to her sister. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have yelled at you. I was just… scared for you.”

Luz worried what could have happened before that would cause this much distress for the two sisters. She decided not to ask or butt in about it though since it was obviously very personal and hard for them. Her and Willow waved to Eda, who finally saw and broke away from Lilith whispering something in her ear. Lilith turned around and recomposed herself. Walking up to Luz and Willow, she stuck out a hand. “Lilith Clawthorne, nice to meet you.”

Luz and Willow each shook the older Clawthorne’s hand and introduced themselves. Lilith eyed Luz before asking Eda where the scene she’d be in was going to be filmed. Eda took the group to the indoor auditorium where plenty of wires and bungee cords were hooked up to various attachments in the ceiling. They all met up with Dana who was already talking to Amity on how the scene was going to play out. After going to hair and makeup and getting their outfits on, they were ready to film.

Once in their places, Lilith introduced Amity for the witches duel. When it came to announce Luz, Lilith described her as just the human girl to which Luz awkwardly waved. She turned towards Eda and shook her arm. At this part, Eda was going to explain how she cheated and put magic around the field. The scene carried on between the two with Luz using her own moral code to guide her as she acted.

“That’s the spirit!” Eda said. Luz giggled a little bit as the camera went away. They were going to cut to a different shot anyways so her laugh was fine and approved by Dana. Luz and Eda nudged each other, complementing each other’s performances. Luz saw that somehow Eda was back to normal. She worried that Eda was covering up her feelings from before but she was also relieved it didn’t affect her acting. 

Then, the bell rang and Luz and Amity stepped towards each other, Amity looking a lot more smug than Luz. The green haired girl cracked her knuckles, trying to seem intimidating but only coming off as cute to Luz who waved at her awkwardly. Amity also thought this was cute and suppressed a smile as she moved on with her lines. 

“Abomination, rise!” She gave Luz a smirk as she pretended to draw a circle on the ground. Luz stepped back. The two of them knew that Amity was going to have a huge abomination spring up from the circle that would be added in by the special effects team. Amity raised her hands and gasped in shock. She remembered that the abomination is supposed to be a lot bigger than what her character would be used to, but that her character didn’t know it was because of the power glyph on her neck. She laughed and looked towards Luz. “Show me what you got! Human!”

“i’M nOt gOoD uNdEr pReSsUre” Amity held back a laugh, knowing that the line wasn’t in the script and was completely improvised by Luz. The line was just supposed to be Luz screaming but the latina had made it even better with her silly antics. Amity smiled to herself as she watched Luz back into a corner. Luz completed her portion of the scene as Amity admired the girl’s acting.

The camera panned back to Amity who switched personalities in the blink of an eye, almost as if it was natural for her. “H-how did you do that?” Amity yelled to Luz.

Luz awkwardly did some jazz hands from her sitting position. “Uhh magic?”

The cameras were back on Amity as she felt the tug of the cable that was connected to her undershirt. Soon enough, she was pulled into the air by said cord and landed on her face. She quickly tried to get up yelling, “I saw you that time! You didn’t use your hands-” But she was cut off by Dana yelling cut. They decided to do the take again because Amity hadn’t landed in the right position. She had been practicing this stunt with Spencer the whole lunch break so she was quite frustrated when she didn’t get it right. Another bruise to add onto her collection on her knees.

They only had to do a few more takes before Amity had gotten a perfect shot. She continued with her lines. “What are you getting at?”

“Not dying!” Luz yelled from across the stadium. She then proceeded to run around while the cameraman chased after her. Luckily the stabilizer he was wearing didn’t get all the extra movement. Surprisingly, Luz was pretty fast. Probably because she walked everywhere from her house. All leg muscle but no arm muscle.

“How are you doing that?” Amity said as she walked closer to Luz.

“No! Amity, don’t step any closer!”

“Why Luz? What happens if I step closer?”

Suddenly, a green pillow fell between them which was their cue to quickly move out of the way. The pillow had a cord attached to it too so it was lifted into the air, giving the impression it was held up by spikes that would be added in my special effects.

“Spikes?!” Luz said, looking over to Eda. The older actress simply gave a quirky thumbs up and smiled.

“I knew it! You  _ were  _ cheating!” Amity exclaimed, pointing a black nailed finger in Luz’s direction. Lilith walked into frame from behind her.

“Amity, no!”

“Oh Eda, I do believe this means you lose!” Lilith said triumphantly. Eda grunted and glared at her sister. The two harnessing the previous argument they had had to get into character.

“It wasn’t my idea to cheat!” Luz slowly walked towards Amity who just kept scowling at her. “And when I found out I tried to stop it but-”

“Who would believe anything you say?” Amity said judgmentally as she turned on her heel. Her hair whipped around revealing the power glyph on her but also revealing her undercut. Luz gasped to herself at this sight.

Eda walked over to Amity and revealed the power glyph to the stadium. The two sisters had their scene while Amity and Luz stared at each other. Amity was trying to stay in character, displaying a hurt face but Luz just looked at her excitedly. Finally, the scene came to a close as Amity rubbed the back of her neck and said “I-I didn’t know!” and ran off screen with Luz reaching out for her. “Amity!”

Dana called cut and started to talk with the cameramen, reviewing the film. Luz smiled sheepishly and ran up to Amity. “Ok, ok, ok, ok! I wanna see your hair!”

Amity was taken by surprise. “W-What do you mean? You’ve seen my hair plenty of times. I know you like it but-”

“No silly! I’m talking about your undercut! How did I never see it before??”

“Oh!” Amity rubbed the back of her neck and blushed a little bit. “I kind of keep it hidden. It’d an  _ under _ cut after all”

“Can I touch it??” Luz said, shaked her hand excitedly. How could Amity say no. She turned around and held up her hair as Luz grazed her fingers against the soft buzzed hair. A small “woah” escaping her lips to which Amity giggled.

“You like it that much, huh?”

“It’s just so cool! I’ve always wanted an undercut! But I have this messy grown out bush on my head.” Luz pouted in the most adorable way. Amity smiled at the girl, placing a hand on top of Luz’s head and lightly messing it up. The stylists would have to fix it but Amity wasn’t thinking about that right now.

“Your hair is cool too!” Amity said as she ran her hand through Luz’s hair. Luz almost looked like a cat, she nuzzled her head up against Amity’s hand and smiled approvingly. Amity had to contain the happiness in her heart. As the two continued to compliment each other, a pink haired girl was walking down from the bleachers, smirking at the two of them.

  
  
  


When Luz and Amity were done, they decided to walk around the covention. Their work day was basically done unless they were called back to reshoot scenes. The rest of the time was for Eda and Lilith to film their fight scene. The pair walked around for a little bit then stopped by the bathrooms where they were going to film their scene tomorrow. They talked about how much they loved this scene and how it was going to be so good for their character development. As the two geeked out, Amity felt an arm wrap around her shoulder and a voice say, “Hey hey hey Amity! You should introduce me to your little friend here!”

“Boscha! What’d I say about physical contact?” Amity shrugged the girl's shoulder off. Boscha held up her hands in defense and apologized. Luz just stood there confused.

“Soooooo, you’re the mc right?” Boscha said, now sliding over to Luz and resting her elbow on Luz’s shoulder.

“Uh yeah! My name is Luz.”

“Ahhh! Luz! What a great name! I’m sure Amity loves it too!” Boscha chuckled, sending a teasing look in Amity’s direction.

“Boscha!” Amity said, her face a little red. “God, you’re even worse than my siblings.”

“Ed, Em, and I only do what is best for you and that’s to loosen you up girl! You are way too uptight.” Boscha gestured to herself innocently.

“I don’t think she’s uptight?” Luz chimed in, a little defensively. Boscha started laughing, clutching her stomach.

“So you see the other side of Am then. Yeah with us she’s all practice practice practice, acting acting acting.” Boscha said, making an extra serious face. Luz realized that’s probably why she got the role then. She felt a sting in her chest as she thought about Amity putting up a different persona with her though.  _ When will I get to see that side of Amity? Will I ever see it? Why does she act differently around me?  _ Luz thought to herself.

“So, Boscha? What does your character do?” Luz said, trying to steer the conversation away from Amity since it seemed to make her uncomfortable.

“My character isn’t super big. I don’t get many lines. Today I'm only in the background. I’m in the next episode though and have some speaking parts there but nothing super serious.”

“In effects she’s gonna get a third eye and become a fidget spinner though so I’d say that’s pretty big.” Amity joked. Boscha turned towards Amity and opened her mouth to say something but chose not to.

“You’re just jealous Am!” Boscha said.

“Hey, do you wanna get added to this cast group chat I made?” Luz asked, again trying to steer the conversation away from Amity. 

Amity mentally facepalmed. Most of the time she loved Luz’s kind and open nature. This was not one of those times. Boscha smirked and nodded her head. Tapping in her phone number and adding her to the group chat. Luz looked at the chat to see the message, “ _ witch bitch” joined the conversation _ .

Luz chuckled at the contact name. “Clever.” She said. Boscha shot some finger guns at her then started to walk away.

“Anyways, I gotta go be a background character. Don’t miss me too much Am! And nice to meet you Luz! Was wondering about you from that article this morning!” Boscha called out over there shoulder.

Luz groaned as she remembered that article. Hoping Amity wouldn’t say anything, she smiled awkwardly at her. “Well… she’s, um, … interesting.”

“A pain in my side.” Amity said flatly. She then sighed and rubbed her brow. “But she’s been my best friend since kindergarten so I put up with her.”

“Oh! Is she a bad friend?”

“What? No! Boscha’s actually really nice, she only acts like that with people she especially likes.” 

_ Does Amity act a certain way with people she especially likes? Am I not one of those people? _ Luz thought. “Ohhh I see. Do you, Willow, and her hang out a lot?”

“Surprisingly no. I’m not sure Boscha and Willow know each other. Boscha always came over to my house when my parents allowed and I always went over to Willow’s when I could, so they never met.”

Luz nodded, listening to each word. She was surprised Amity was letting her know all of this. At the same time, she was glad Amity felt comfortable enough  _ to _ let her know all of this. Her previous anxiety washed away as she reassured herself that Amity wouldn’t be comfortable if she didn’t see Luz as a friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I drew art for the hair touching scene cuz I thought it was cute :D It's on Instagram my user is keysstylus


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *Throws 4500 word pure Lumity chapter and runs*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy your fluff <3

The next week was spent filming all the little scenes in the covention. Eda and Lilith were really showing off the talent of the Clawthorne family. Luz was constantly staring as they were in front of the cameras. Their acting felt so natural, Luz was surprised Dana was able to get both of the sisters to act in the same show playing characters that were sisters. It felt very peculiar how well everyone fit their roles. She joked to herself that some deity must have blessed Dana with excellent people reading skills and that’s how she found basically the human embodiment of all her characters.

Luz noticed that no one was talking much about the article anymore. She assumed the craze from the first day simmered down and from what Eda had told her, the creep hasn’t been seen outside her house all this time. It almost made Luz worry about what the creep has been scheming. There’s no way the creep would have just wanted one photo and that’s it. Acting helped her take her mind off of it most of the time, but Luz still made sure Eda came over to her house to check on her. Eda had decided to bunk with Lilith while she waited for the dna scan from the police. She was still paranoid and luckily her sister understood this and allowed her to stay with her. Eda even had called it “practice for their characters” since in a few upcoming episodes, Eda and Lilith would have some really funny and sweet sibling moments. They would have been able to act them out just fine, but Eda wanted to tease her older sister just a little bit like old days.

By the end of the week, still no dna scan. This was, of course, frustrating news for both the Clawthornes and the Nocedas as both families were now involved. It was the last day of filming for the Covention episode and the cast was exhausted. They were glad they’d have the weekend off and that the next episode didn’t require as much physical exertion. The last scenes for today were two of Amity and Luz’s scenes. The first time they meet in the episode and the last on screen moment they have in the episode. Luz thought it was odd since the emotions were very different in both of the scenes but she took it as a challenge from Dana. She’d have to film one as confident and defiant and the other one as caring and reserved.

They set up outside of the Emperor’s Coven stadium. Dana called action and Luz and Eda walked out of the room. Luz was holding up a magazine of all of the covens, to which Eda pretended to blast a hole in. She turned to her side and gave a small look up to see where Amity was. She saw the back of the green haired witch and took in a breath. Digging her nose into the magazine, she walked forward, bumping into Amity.

“Watch where you’re- oh it’s you, Willow’s… Abomination thing.” Amity’s voice was so much more mean and snotty. Luz remembered what Boscha said. Is this what she’s like with people she likes? Luz took a small step back, waving her arm and smiling awkwardly.

“Heyyy Amity… sooo funny story, not an abomination, sorry for the confusion last week. I-I’m Luz, the human.” Luz reached out her hand for a handshake. She mentally kicked herself for stammering like that. She didn’t quite understand why she wanted to act so well in front of Amity. She tried to shake it off and just continue with the scene.

“Ugh, put that away. You’re the one who got me in trouble with Principal Bump, and I  _ never _ get in trouble.” Amity said as she whacked Luz’s hand away.

Luz continued with the scene. She was much more awkward than she had hoped for, but she tried to go with it. She was going to have to stand up to Amity in a few more lines. She had to make it flow well. Of course, Amity was acting perfectly like always. She seemed to be completely okay bashing Luz about being at the witch covention even if it was acting. Luz told herself it didn’t mean anything. Just that she needed to be better at acting so these kinds of feelings wouldn’t get in the way. Sometimes she felt like she was too nice, she didn’t even want to fight with her friend.

Luz continued the scene, pushing her thoughts away and replacing them with determination. As she talked about her training as a witch she tried to smile and look less nervous. It looked like it worked. Amity kept the scene going and Dana hadn’t called cut. As Amity asked “Is that your ferocious demon there?” Luz looked behind her. The green pillow was propped up against one of the stands. A crew member with a cord attached to the pillow walked it over into frame. A cupcake was resting on the pillow as Alex said his line from the side.

“Cupcakes in my tummy tum make the king go yummy yum!” Luz held back a laugh. She loved that line. “Oh hey Luz! Look at all these offerings! Woah!” The crew member flopped the pillow over and a cupcake came tumbling out. Luz knelt down next to the pillow, trying really hard to not break character as she held the pillow. She reached out for the cupcake but found Amity squashing it with her foot. Alex gasped.

“Oops! That was an accident.” Amity said mockingly. Luz pretended Amity wasn’t her friend for a second so she could continue with her lines. They went back and forth for a few seconds as Luz hugged the pillow close to her, calling it a good boi. It wasn’t written in the script with an “i” but Luz liked to think of it that way in her head.

“I’ll tell you what Amity…” Luz went on with her rant. She took all the passion she had been saving up this whole scene and unleashed it in this one line. Bringing her hands to her chest and getting ready as she referenced The Good Witch Azura, Luz stuck out a finger towards Amity and yelled, “I challenge you to a witches duel!” The crowd of background characters around them all gasped.

Amity’s energy radiated off of her. Luz almost thought this was a completely different person. She seemed so serious and confident. Luz felt like Amity was going to kick her ass with just the pure aura Amity was giving off. With her arms crossed, a firm stance, and her eyes closed, Amity walked straight up to Luz. The latina gulped and lowered her pointed finger as Amity only seemed to get closer and closer.  _ Wait, she was only supposed to lean forward??? _ Luz started panicking in her head as Amity’s face was inches away from hers. Their noses were almost touching. Amity opened her eyes. The world fell silent and the air was filled with tension. “I accept.” Amity said with a smirk.

Luz wasn’t quite sure what noise she let out but whatever she did let out, it made Dana and the crew laugh hysterically. Luz noticed she had jumped away from Amity after that and was in a defensive position. Her arms crossed over herself and her shoulders tensed, one knee raised up too. Luz quickly walked back over and apologized to the crew and Amity. Amity only laughed with them. Luz was embarrassed and felt her cheeks get hot as she walked back to the start of the scene.

“Oh that was golden! I loved the tension, really well done you two! But maybe don’t get so close, Amity, I don’t think Luz could take it.” Dana said through laughs as she wiped her eyes.

“Oh… I’m sorry Luz, I didn’t mean to scare you. I guess I was just really into my character.” Amity said, looking towards Luz. That worried and kind demeanor returning which made Luz feel even more conflicted.

“Haha it’s fineeee anything to get into character aM I rIgHt? Haha… ha” Luz said awkwardly. She didn’t think she was scared, maybe intimidated? She wasn’t quite sure why she had reacted so much to the improv Amity had put into the scene.

  
  
  
  


They had finally finished the scene and were moving onto the last Amity and Luz scene for the day. This one went much smoother. Luz felt much more comfortable without Amity being super intimidating and mean. They had even previously talked about how much both of them were going to like this scene. And they were right! They only took two or three takes. Dana made sure to compliment them on how well they had acted out the scene together. Luz knew she was just using her genuine concern for Amity’s wellbeing to fuel her performance. She had assumed Amity was just acting like she always did, but part of her emotional performance really made Luz’s heart hurt and made her wonder if she was really acting. Amity seemed fine after the scene though, so Luz thought nothing more of it. The two just continued to compliment each other’s acting and geek out about how their characters were going to grow closer over the next few episodes.

Luz and Amity had seen Boscha for a few minutes the next week for Hooty’s Moving Hassle, however not much. Both Amity and Boscha had only a few lines so they weren’t in the studio. Boscha was sure to send plenty of jokes to the group chat however which both annoyed everyone and also gave them a good laugh. This was also the moment Willow and Boscha would meet. Amity had introduced them to each other and walked over to Luz.

“You know I’m not sure how they’re going to interact. Their personalities are very different.” Amity whispered to Luz as she watched Boscha and Willow awkwardly try to talk to each other.

“I’m sure they’ll be fine. They look like they’re getting more comfortable. Maybe they found something they have in common.” Luz responded.

“Yeah true. I wonder what they’re talking about.” Amity eyed the two again and found them smiling and whispering to each other.

“Well whatever it is, it seems to be really funny.” Luz said as she watched the two laugh to each other.

  
  
  


“Wait so Amity really doesn’t see iti?” Willow said almost choking on her own disbelief.

“I know right! I can see how Luz wouldn’t see it, Amity has always been good at changing her persona to different situations. We were both taught it in our acting lessons. Maybe that’s what Amity is thinking.” Boscha said looking over to Luz and Amity talking.

“Luz can be really dense too. She doesn’t realize it but she talks about Amity a lot to me. And as much as she wouldn’t admit it, she doesn’t just text me about her acting. I can’t count how many texts about her hair I’ve gotten. Or when she’s at the store and asks me if Amity would want a chocolate bunny or a strawberry bunny candy more.”

“She really does that?? Girl, I have to take the other end of it. When she gets those candies from Luz she always tells me how good the candy is but I know she really means Luz.” Boscha sighed. “Woe is us who have to put up with their dumbassery.”

“I’m sure they’ll figure it out eventually. I was talking to Dana and she even see’s it. She said they have ‘good chemistry’ when asked about them acting together. And then she winked at me so I’m pretty sure she’s planning something.”

“Oh ho ho that sounds fun. It’ll make this so much more interesting. God, I’m glad I’m not as oblivious. At least I can pick up when I have a crush on someone.”

“Oh yeah same.” Willow said as she looked over to Boscha. They laughed at each other and then looked away. Boscha rubbing her neck with her hand.

“A-anywaysss I should probably go. You have to film more stuff with Luz. I’ll grab Amity. See you around.” Boscha shot some finger guns at Willow as she walked over to Amity.

“So, have fun over there?” Amity asked teasingly.

“I should be asking you that, Am.” Amity chuckled to herself as she looked back over to Willow and Luz. She smiled to herself as her and Boscha left the studio.

  
  
  
  


Finally, Lost In Language. Amity and Luz had been texting non stop about the episode. It was a whole episode of them getting to act together. The two didn’t quite realize it yet but they both loved it the most when they were acting together. As Dana said, they have good chemistry on screen. Boscha and Willow had set up a private chat with them in it to discuss the two girls’ antics.

_ Witchbitch: Amity almost makes me want to vomit, although, this is the happiest i’ve seen her _

_ Plantmom: same, Luz constantly texts me about the lore behind their lines and I have to tell her to text amity herself _

_ Witchbitch: I mean I guess they’re as obsessed with each other as you are with your succulents _

_ Plantmom: That’s understandable, succulents are so cute! _

_ Witchbitch: lame _

_ Plantmom: you’re just mad cuz you wouldn’t be able to keep it alive _

_ Witchbitch: it can’t be that hard! Just water every day and sunlight. I passed bio y’know _

_ Plantmom: surprisingly _

_ Witchbitch: how much you wanna bet? Call it, right now, I dare you _

_ Plantmom: if you can’t keep a succulent, that I choose for you, alive for a whole month… then you’ll have to do whatever I say for a week >:) _

_ Witchbitch: sometimes I forget how sinister you can be… deal. But if I win, you have to let me take over your instagram for a week! _

_ Plantmom: you’re on! I’ll drop off the succulent tomorrow ;) _

The two were definitely glad they met. Luz was listening to this story the next day as she was preparing to film a scene with Amity. The crew had met up at a huge library in LA where they could have free space to film. Lots of extra actors were hired to just be general public and Amity’s secret hideout would be green screened in. The actual hideout was going to be shot at the “Teen Corner” that the library had. Willow talked on and on about how she gave Boscha one of the hardest succulents to take care of and how confident Boscha had looked when she gave it to her. Luz laughed with Willow, enjoying the harmless fun they were having. As Dana called Luz onto set, Luz patted Willow on the back telling her that she was gonna win the bet. Waving goodbye, Willow walked out of the studio. She had remembered she was going to meet up with Gus to hang out and would have to miss watching Luz’s performance today. Willow looked back at Luz, seeing her talking to Amity. Willow sighed with relief, she knew that if it was with Amity, Luz would do just fine.

  
  
  
  


“-and so she came to me for help! She really thought I would know anything about plants.” Amity laughed.

“Well I mean you’re pretty good at a lot of things. I wouldn’t be surprised if you were secretly a botanist on top of acting.”

“Plants have never really been my thing. My parents have fake plants all over our house so they don’t have to take care of real plants.”

“What if Boscha just replaced it with a fake plant”

“Boscha isn’t  _ that _ low. She’ll probably look it up online and still fail. It’s nice to see her brought down a peg though.”

“True that!” Luz exclaimed.

Dana finally got their attention and told them to focus, to which Amity and Luz giggled to each other.

“Know your lines?” Luz asked Amity teasingly.

“Of course! Do  _ you _ know  _ your _ lines?” Amity smiled.

“Wouldn’t forget them ever.”

Luz winked and walked over to her starting spot. This week they were filming the majority of the episode which was at the library. Anything else would be shot next week. Right now, however, they were filming the fight scenes since that’d probably be the hardest to film. Dana called action and the episode started. 

“Amity! Wait!” Luz called out as she ran around the corner of a bookshelf. She saw the green haired actress walking begrudgingly away, clutching the diary prop to herself. After Covention, Luz wanted to get better at being able to act with Amity. She found that a lot of the time, she let her feelings and concerns for her friend get to the best of her. When she asked Amity about this problem over text, the girl had told Luz not to worry since after Covention, Luz wouldn’t have to act like she didn’t like Amity. That had been the starting point of the two girls talking about the development of their characters.

Amity groaned. “First you embarrass me, now you want to be my friend? I don’t get you! Pick a side!” Amity held the diary under her right arm while her left was making dramatic gestures towards Luz.

Luz didn’t think twice in her head about breaking character. This was too good not to make a comment at. “Welllll I can’t really since i’m bi sooooo” Luz grinned. This made Amity break character and scoff at Luz, giggling under her breath.

Dana yelled cut, standing up from her chair. “Come on you two, I know you like to hang out together but we have a show to film. Sorry. And Luz, that would have been a great improv line but I don’t think Disney would let us do that… yet.” Dana winked, getting back into her chair and motioning to the cameramen to go back to their starting positions. They redid the scene, this time without Luz’s improv line and without Amity’s giggling. They were able to do the scene properly this time around. Now they were to move to the next room for the Luzura scene. Luz walked off set to put on her Azura costume as Amity stayed back. The special effects team were giving her a talk about the next few scenes and how she should act so the effects team could have an easier job editing.

Luz spun around, looking at herself in the mirror. She giggled to herself at the crown witch hat combo. She took a photo and sent it to her mom with the caption, “Look out, here comes Luzura!” Camilia had texted back right away.

_ Mama <3: Que lindo!!! Also, Eda says you look good! _

Camilia sent Luz a selfie of her and Eda at the hospital she worked at. Eda was lowering her sunglasses and winking at the camera while Camilia was joyously beaming.

_ Luz: Ten cuidado mama!! _

_ Mama <3: We’re okay! No te preocupes, I snuck her in! _

_ Luz: MAMA!! No sueles romper las reglas! _

_ Mama <3: Your mom can have some fun too! Anyways, have fun, I have to sneak her back out. Te quiero mija <3 _

Luz groaned at her phone. She turned it off and threw it with her stuff. Before she could walk out though, she walked straight into a taller person. Luz rubbed her head as she looked up, frantically saying sorry.

“No worries, Luzura” The girl said, winking at Luz. Luz felt her cheeks heat up as she noticed the pretty golden eyes and green hair of the individual before her. For a second she forgot what she wanted to say as she noticed the girl was wearing the Hexside uniform and seemed to be in the illusion track.

“Wait how do you know my name? Are you a new main cast member??” Luz said excitedly. She almost disregarded that she looked like a kid going trick or treating on Halloween instead of the main character of the show. She quickly composed herself, blushing some more. The older girl laughed.

“You’re cute. I’m in this episode, not filming today though. Was just getting my witch ears made and my outfit tailored. What do you think?” The girl put her hands on her hips and twirled around a bit. Luz hoped she hadn’t seen her twirl around herself.

“It looked great! I have to go back to set right now but it was nice to meet you! I look forward to acting with you!” Luz said as she quickly ran past the girl. Luz was way too flustered to do anything, she definitely didn’t want to say anything wrong especially if that girl was a big character. As she ran away, Luz mentally kicked herself as she forgot to ask the girl's name. Oh well, Luz had to focus on the scene at hand now. She smiled as she looked over to Amity who was lying against a huge book like structure. Dana called action and the scene continued, pushing away Luz’s thoughts.

  
  
  


By the end of the day, the teamwork of Luz and Amity had gotten a good majority of the scenes finished. There was giggling and mishaps here and there but for the most part, Dana praised them afterwards for their efforts. Maybe it was all the late night brainstorming the two did over text before falling asleep together listening to Luz’s lofi playlist that got them to where they were. Maybe it was the frequent lunches spent together at some of their favorite food places. Maybe it was the little gifts they would get each other now and then. Whatever it was, the two girls were definitely feeling much more comfortable around each other. 

Luz and Amity walked out of the studio to find Willow, Gus, Boscha, the girl from before, and a similar looking boy next to her. Willow and Gus waved at the two, welcoming them over. Before Luz could get to them though, the girl and boy slithered over to Luz, wrapping each of their arms around Luz’s shoulder causing Luz to jump, heat rushing to her face.

“Hiya Luz!” Said the girl.

“Oh! It’s you! Uh I never got your name before… and is this your brother? He-”

“Ed! Em! You’re obviously making her uncomfortable, stop it.” Amity said, her voice suddenly cutting through Luz’s previous flustered state. The young actress had her arms crossed and a scowl on her face as she glared at Ed and Em.

The twins let go of Luz. “My apologies Luz. My name is Emira and this is Edric. I apologize for our little sister’s um… protective attitude towards you. We didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.” Emira said innocently.

Amity’s face turned beet red as she huffed in frustration. “I am NOT protective of her! You guys just have no regard for personal space!” Luz could tell that this has happened before with Amity who seemed to not enjoy physical contact as much as others did. Luz thought for a second if she should stop holding Amity’s hand from time to time or touching her hair. Although, she never lashed out at her in those instances.  _ Weird _ … Luz thought.

“More like  _ you _ don’t understand that Luz might  _ like _ this. Or are you just jealous that someone else is touching yo-” Edric wasn’t able to finish his sentence before Amity walked over and grabbed the front of his shirt, balling it up in her fist. A look on her face that would scare even the most brave and fearless person. Luz gaped and ran over to Willow and Gus. The three of them bracing themselves for Amity’s wrath. But nothing happened. Luz guessed as much as Amity was annoyed at her older siblings, she still wouldn’t hurt them. Emira pulled Amity off of Edric who was laughing so much he had tears in his eyes.

_ Another side to Amity… this is how she is with her siblings. I feel like i’m in the world of Pokemon and I have to catch em’ all. _ Luz thought to herself. She turned to Willow and Gus, asking them what happened.

“Oh, Amity added Ed and Em to The Owl Kids group chat.” Gus said.

“And Emira said that we should all meet up after filming. She said she had an idea and we were intrigued so we came. Plus I trust Ed and Em.” Willow said.

“I’m surprised you do.” Said Amity. “Also, there is no way I would add them to the group chat.” She turned towards Ed and Em who were whistling and looking away innocently. Amity’s face returned to her red hot rage. She took both of them by the shirts and pulled them down to her level. “YOU TOOK MY PHONE AND ADDED YOURSELVES DIDN’T YOU!!!”

“It was rude to keep us out of the fun Mittens!” Edric said.

“We’re in the cast too!” Emira said.

“I SWEAR TO GOD WHEN I’M DONE WITH YOU, YOU’LL-”

“Oooookkaaaayyyy Amity, caallllmmm down. I think it’s okay if they joined. Like they said, they’re in the cast too. So Emira, what was your idea?” Luz said cautiously as she put a hand on Amity’s tense shoulder. Amity calmed down at the touch, releasing a tense breath. At least the conversation would move away from her.

“Wellll… something that we like to do with the casts of other shows or movies we’re in is do an escape room!” Emira said, nodding towards Edric.

“Yeah! They’re a great way to build teamwork for the cast! We like to put a spin on it that we have to choose characters compliant with a theme that we act as for the whole time we’re in the escape room. And you can’t break character or else you can’t help anymore.” Edric explained.

“That’s a great idea!!” Luz screamed. “I love escape rooms!! Um… I’m not sure if I have enough money though.”

“Yeah me too.” Said Willow and Gus. The Blight twins put their hands on their hips.

“Don’t worry about it, we have enough for all of you.” They said together. Amity rolled her eyes. “Think of it as a thanks and an apology for earlier.” Emira said.

The group continued to discuss the details. They had Luz text Eda to see if she wanted to join but apparently she was hanging out with Camilia next friday, the day everyone was free to do this escape room. Luz questioned how much those two hung out, wondering why Eda wasn’t more busy and why her mom wasn’t focusing on work like usual. After they had settled everything, Ed and Em texted the location of the escape room to everyone over the group chat and left with Amity. Willow, Luz, and Gus started to walk to Willow’s car as they squealed over their plans next friday. It’s gonna be fun!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I held a poll on instagram and it seems a lot of you want me to do a live stream when I hit 1k followers on there! I would draw and take requests, answer questions about myself or about the fanfic, and vibe with y'all! So if you wanna see that, make sure to follow me on insta at "keysstylus" (That felt so youtube of me to say, I apologize)


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Escape room time!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No new notes, just thank you! I hope you enjoy this chapter, I've been pumping out long ones! <3

By Friday the gang was finished filming Lost in Language and ready to go to that escape room. Luz had found it really easy to act with Ed and Em. Not only did she not have a whole lot of lines since their scenes together were montages, but also her general awkwardness around the twins played nicely with her character. While she was watching over the film with Dana as she critiqued Luz’s performance, Luz saw that she had blushed when Emira called her a “cutie”. Luz had begged Dana to have the editing team take it out but Dana said that’d be no fun. Luz was dreading when the episode came out live. But those worries were washed away as she tried to figure out her outfit for the escape room. She walked out of her room and into her mom’s.

“Hey mama, do you think fish nets would be too much?” Luz looked up at her mom who had her hair down and a beautiful dress on. “Ooo mama, what's the occasion?”

“Oh! Mija, Eda is coming over, remember? We’re going to have dinner. Speaking of, do you have enough money to get something with your friends tonight?”

Luz gave her mother a suspicious look. “Riiiigghhhhttt… and yes, I have enough money mama. Don’t worry about it.”

“Good. I think the fish nets would look great! Do what makes you comfortable.”

“And is this what makes you comfortable with Eda?” Luz teased with a smirk and a wink. Camilia gasped.

“Luz! I-i what psh nO volver a tu habitcion!”

Luz laughed and walked back into her room. She put on a white crop top, black jeans, with the purple fish nets underneath. She had gone to a thrift store a year or so back and picked them up never thinking she’d wear them again. It just seemed to work for the occasion. Messing with her hair a little bit she walked out of the house, calling back to her mom to say goodbye. When she opened the door she saw Eda in semi casual suit. She had been holding flowers but quickly hid them from Luz’s view upon seeing her.

“Hey kiddo! Sorry I couldn’t go with you guys today. Although I don’t think you teenagers would want an old hag like me.” Eda said.

Luz took Eda’s hand, the one without the flowers. “I always want you! Maybe we can do again when you’re not…” Luz looked back at her mom’s room. “... busy.” She turned back towards Eda and gave her a small glare of warning to which Eda took the hint and laughed nervously.

“Don’t worry kiddo. You just go have fun and your mother and I will hang out here. You have your phone right?”

“Of course. I’ll text you if anything happens.”

Eda ruffled Luz’s newly done hair. Luz groaned but smiled at Eda. Running past her and saying goodbye, the Latina found Willow’s parked car and got in. She saw Gus in the back seat with his phone connected.

“Are you ready Luz???” Gus said, pumping his fists in the air.

“Of course I am!!” Luz held out a hand for a high five which Gus gladly delivered.

The three of them began driving down the quieter night streets of LA, blasting music along the way. They used their phones as microphones and Willow almost couldn’t focus on driving with Gus and Luz banging their heads to the beat. Willow turned down the music a little, grabbing the attention of the other two.

“So Ed and Em want to meet up at a burger place next to the escape room. Amity says they picked up Boscha on the way” Willow said.

“Cool, i’m starving!” Gus yelled. Luz laughed and nodded in agreement. They pulled up to the restaurant and walked inside. They found Amity, Boscha, and the twins already sitting at a table, looking through the menu. Edric shot up and flailed his arms to signal where they were. The trio laughed awkwardly and quickly sat down next to them. Luz found herself sitting across from Amity who was thinking long and hard about what she wanted to get, or maybe other things. Luz wasn’t sure. The latina swiped the menu out from Amity’s hands and smirked. Amity was upset at first but then saw that it was Luz and smiled.

“I guess the menu is good, huh, grocery girl?” Luz teased, sticking out her tongue.

“Yeah, it’s good.” Amity said as she stared at Luz with a soft smile on her face.

After a few minutes of deciding what to order and small chit chat between the kids, a waitress came to take their orders.

“Hi, my name is- OH! Are you guys Blights??” The waitress immediately leaned towards Ed, Em, and Amity’s side of the table.

“I told you we should have kept our masks on.” Whispered Amity to Emira.

“Don’t be rude Mittens.” Emira replied back. “That’s right! Emira Blight, Edric Blight, and our baby sister Mittens- I mean, Amity Blight!”

Amity nudged Emira in the side with her elbow and a disapproving look on her face.

“Oh my god! Emira, I'm like your biggest fan, seriously! We’re actually the same age! I always wanted to get into acting and some day act alongside you.” The waitress continued to fangirl. Emira seemed to be very polite with fans and considerate while Amity looked like she wanted to avoid the conversation. Edric cracked a few bad jokes here and there that made the waitress laugh. Eventually, Amity cleared her throat to try and get things moving along.

“Awww Mittens, are you hangry?” Edric teased. Amity only glared at him. “Ok, so Emira and I will have a super burger with cheese each. Hers with no pickles, mine with. And then whatever the rest of the kiddos want.”

The rest of the Owl Kids ordered their meals. Amity finally calming down and uncrossing her arms as the waitress walked away.

“So, anyone’s first time at an escape room?” Edric asked the group. Nobody raised their hands or spoke up. “Ooo good! Everyone knows what to expect! I wonder who’s the least experienced… Em and I have done 6 together, Mittens has done 4. What about you guys?”

“I’ve only done one.” Said Gus.

“Me too.” Said Boscha, looking away.

“Same here, it was for my 14th birthday.” Luz said. “I’ve loved them since and watch videos on youtube but never got around to doing another one.”

“What about you Willow? I remember the last time we talked you had done like 3?”

Willow and Amity smirked. “Add 4 more.” Willow said confidently.

“Wait?! You’ve done more than us now??” Ed and Em exclaimed together.

“Yeah! My Aunt owns an escape room place in South LA I think. My dads and I go there all the time for family night. I’m not so good at them though. My dads help me a lot.”

“That’s still awesome Willow! What kinds of themes?” Luz asked, grasping Willow’s hand next to her.

“All kinds, Pirates, Zombie apocalypse, mad scientist, haunted house, insane asylum, and prison break.”

The group started asking all kinds of questions of Willow like what they were like, if there were live actors, if she was scared, etc. Everyone seems pumped up for their night of fun and it only grew their appetites. Thank god their food came quickly. Each consumed their burger in only a matter of minutes. Licking their lips, the table went back to discussing strategy for the escape room.

“Boscha, you’ve been quiet? I didn’t think you had it in you.” Emira said.

“Oh shut up Blight. I’m just not in the mood yet.”

Emira laughed. “There she is!”

“She’s upset because her succulent isn’t doing what she wants.” Willow said, smiling. “Looks like I’m gonna win the bet earlier than I thought I would, huh?”

“No way plant girl! It’s still alive!” Boscha was getting competitive now. The girl hated to lose.

“Well keep trying to force it to go what you want, see where that takes you. Oh I know, takes you to losing the bet! Ha!”

“Oh snap! Willow! Take it easy, I don’t think Boscha’s superiority complex can take it.” Edric said, making Boscha seethe with anger.

“You’ll see! I’ll keep it alive!” Boscha pointed a finger at Willow. “And then, it’s instagram takeover time!”

“Oh no my precious posts, my beautiful aesthetic theme! How would I ever live on?” Willow said sarcastically. “You know I could do the same to you if I win? Whatever I want, a whole week!”

Boscha huffed and crossed her arms. Amity giggled and nudged Boscha. Boscha rolled her eyes, looking away but secretly smiling. The group moved on and continued their conversation in escape rooms.

Luz looked over to Amity and saw a small blob of sauce on her lower lip to the right corner of her mouth. She gestured to Amity to wipe it off but Amity wiped the left side instead. Luz giggled and mouthed “other left” while the others kept talking. Amity wiped her right corner of her mouth but missed again. She gave Luz a quizzical look when she found no sauce on the napkin. Luz leaned over and reached across the table, wiping the sauce up herself and then licking it off her fingers.

“Ooo did you get a teriyaki burger?” Luz asked Amity. Luz was startled when she saw Amity’s face turn a bright shade of red. “Oh gosh! Amity are you okay???”

Emira shook her a little bit and Edric poked her cheek. “Oh no Luz, I think you broke her.” Edric laughed.

“iM fInE” screeched Amity, pushing her twin siblings off of her.

“You sure Mittens? You’re still a little red. Feeling under the weather? Want Luz to kiss it better?” Emira teased. Amity turned even redder to which Luz started to laugh. She liked to see the Blight siblings interact, it was very entertaining and amusing. She did feel bad for Amity though and decided to get Ed and Em off her back.

“Hey guys, it’s almost 7:30, we should probably go to the escape room.” Luz said. This got Ed and Em off of Amity. The green haired girl mouthed a thank you to Luz as they paid the check and got up to leave.

  
  
  
  


After going through the rules and watching a short preview video, the group was ready to go into the escape room. But there was one last thing they had to do.

“Okay everyone! Draw from the bag! Go on!” Edric held out a small bag with lots of pieces of paper in it. Each with a different character to act out. Emira went first.

“Old lady addicted to gambling” Emira read, a smile creeping up on her face. She hunched over, squinted one of her eyes, and hobbled away. “I’ll get that jackpot next time!” Emira said in an older nasally voice while shaking her fist in the air. Gus walked up next.

“Robot emo.” Gus read. He assumed a more rigid stance. “Hello, my name is Gus 2.0” He said in a stiff and mechanic voice. His arm movements were rigid and jerky. Suddenly he looked right at everyone. “Would you like to talk about the existential dread that awaits us all at the end of life?” Suddenly Gus broke down into fake tears, pretending to sob and wipe his face with claw hands. He limped away. Boscha walked up.

“Yugioh meets Pokemon.” Boscha scoffed. “Dark Magician, I choose you! Use spellbinding circle to find those hidden clues in the escape room.” Boscha made exaggerated and anime-like poses. Flashing a look to her friends as if they were a camera. She pretended to hold cards in her hand and a duel disk on her arm. “It’s time to c-c-c-c-catch em’ all!” Luz laughed at the crossover of the “It’s time to d-d-d-duel from Yugioh and the “Gotta catch em’ all” from Pokemon. It was genius.

“I didn’t know you liked Yugioh and Pokemon, Boscha!” Amity laughed.

“Is that a challenge?? I shall defeat you in the ultimate children's card game!” Boscha said just making Amity laugh even harder. Willow walked up.

“Power lifter on steroids on top of steroids.” Willow took a deep breath and then got into a wide stance, flexing her arms. “YEAH GET PUMPED” She banged against her chest and acted like a bro. “I’M ON SOME MAD GAINS BRO, I CAN’T TALK ANY QUIETER THAN THIS, I’M TOO MACHOOOO” Everyone burst out laughing. Amity was on the ground crying because she had already been laughing from Boscha’s performance. Speaking of which, she was up next. Luz had to help her up.

“Sophisticated mad scientist… with a british accent.” Amity smirked. She stood up straight and pointed her chin and nose up into the air. “Oh good heavens darlings, I see we have a scientific investigation through this door, who would like to accompany me to my lab to DECONSTRUCT THE GAME MASTER FOR CLUES MWAHAHAHA” Amity said in her best british accent. Luz cheered her on yelling “Me next!”

“Drunk pirate about to pass out from his 10th drink.” Luz swayed a little bit and drooped her eyes. Her movements became sluggish and wobbly. “Argh, mateys *burp* I tell ye *burp* not even the kraken could bring me down *burp* what’s another *burp* sip o booze gonna do to meh” Luz swung a hooked finger in the air, pointing towards the spaces between everyone to further show the drunkenness of her pirate character. She dizzily walked away, leaving only Edric left.

“Crazy cat lady.” Edric started stroking the bag full of characters possessively. “I call this one whiskers! Isn’t he so cute! I feed him, and cuddle him, and give him plenty of treats! Of course I save some for all 15 of his siblings back in my little cottage, oh yes, would you like to come over sometime dear and meet them?” The group continued laughing. Edric walked up to Amity and messed with her hair. “And I call  _ this _ one Mittens! Isn’t she adooorraaabbllee?” Ed squished Amity’s cheeks. Suddenly she wasn’t laughing anymore, she pushed her brother’s hand off of her and walked up to the entrance to the escape room.

In a british accent, she said, “Okay everyone, into the laboratory- I mean, the escape room! Let's get this experiment- I mean, the party started!” The rest trailed behind her as they all entered the space. The walls and floor were all black. It almost looked like the studio green screen room where they filmed  _ The Owl House _ . There was a white board on the wall next to the door and a long screen across the top that displayed their time. A bookshelf, dresser or wardrobe, and a desk were found in the other corners of the room. The floor had a few cracks in it or dips. The group started analyzing it all before the screen started a video.

“Greetings! I will be your game master, you have 1 hour to find the key to open the door. Remember the door is always unlocked and there are cameras for you to wave to if you need a hint. You have unlimited hints! Good luck!” A loud beeping sound could be heard now, the timer started counting down. Everyone split up and started trying to find clues. Gus found a sheet of paper with a cipher on it. Willow found a blacklight. Boscha and the twins found 3 blocks with markings on them. Amity and Luz took note of the 2 visible locks. One on one of the dresser drawers, the other on a hinge in the floor. The one on the dresser drawer was a word lock and the one on the floor required a key. The lock on the door required a number. Everyone met back up in the middle of the room next to a big column.

“BLACKLIGHT WOOOO” Willow yelled, flexing her arms again and patting Luz and Gus on the backs.

“Black, like the darkness in my mechanical chest where a heart would be if I were human.” Gus said. “Luckily, I am made of science and mathematical reasoning, my only purpose in this cruel world. My circuits tell me we should shine it on anything and everything we can.”

Boscha snatched the blacklight out of Willow’s hand. “Blacklight! I choose you! Use shine on the dresser!” Boscha shined the blacklight on the surface of the dresser. “It was not very effective.” Boscha muttered. “Blacklight! Use shine on the whiteboard!” This time, the group gasped as they saw symbols on the whiteboard. Gus pulled out the paper with the cipher on it and Luz swayed as she wrote down the code. It was a 3 letter code “KEY”. Once deciphered, Boscha, Gus, Luz, and Willow went to the letter lock on the floor hinge. Amity was busy trying to figure out a puzzle box that was sitting on the desk.

“Oh dearie, young love how beautiful. You know when I was your age we called it winning the lottery.” Emira said in her old lady voice as she leaned on Amity.

Ed also nudged his little sister as he pressed a finger gun to his chin. “I have an adorable kitten I could give you to give her? Cute cats always win hearts.”

Amity was definitely annoyed but she knew not to break character. She took the other two by their shirt collars. “See you two, that was my next experiment! Would you like to be my live test subjects?” She said with a creepy smile on her face. The twins backed off, a little disappointed their antics didn’t make Amity break character. The three Blights heard a gasp from behind them. There they saw that Luz had accidentally broken off the handle to the now unlocked trap door in the floor.

“Good job Luz.” Boscha said sarcastically. She then clasped her hand to her mouth. 

“Ha! You broke character!” Willow yelled at her, only to realize she had done the same. The two of them walked over to the exit door, complying to the rules Ed and Em had set for the escape room. Willow gave a look to Luz hoping that she would be fine without her. Boscha looked at Amity and mouthed “don’t screw up”. Everyone got back to work. Luz opened up the hatch to find another locked box. This one needed a key too.

“Arghhh Amity, did you find a key over tharrr?” Luz hobbled over to Amity, leaning on her pretending to be drunk. Amity jumped at the contact but held character.

“I’ve been dissecting this puzzle box but I can’t seem to figure it out. It even bests me, the greatest maddest scientist in all of LA!” 

Luz held up the key, waving it around, still clinging to Amity. “Argh matey, say do you happen to have another drink for an old seafarer like me?”

“According to my calculations, you are about 5 minutes away from passing out. Do you consent to me using your unconscious body as an experiment back at my lab? I promise you’ll only come out with at least half of your limbs still intact.”

“That’s some frankenstein shit Mittens!” Edric said. “You’re out!”

“Actually, Frankenstein was a mad scientist wasn’t he? So technically, she’s not out. But we are, come on bro, let’s leave them alone.” Emira said, breaking character and pulling Edric away. She looked back and winked at Gus, the only remaining player to help Luz and Amity.

“Argh, young lass isn’t that a little unfair? You weren’t even trying I reckon! How are we supposed to escape with less than half o’ our crew?” Luz asked, cleverly staying in character to complain.

“I agree, the probability of us winning are now below 20 percent, like the amount of energy I have right now.” Gus said.

“You guys got this! Just put your heads together!” Yelled Emira over her shoulder as she left.

Amity groaned and went back to trying to solve the box puzzle. Luz stared at her and then had an idea. She grabbed Amity’s shoulders and turned her to face her. Then taking Amity’s face in her hands, Luz softly banged their heads together.

“What was that for??” Amity asked in her british accent, rubbing her forehead.

“Just putting our heads together lassey! Arg, now hoist the sails because we’re about to escape!”

Amity smiled to herself a little bit.  _ Dummy _ she thought. Then she looked back at the puzzle and suddenly something in her brain clicked. A small gasp escaped her mouth as she banged the puzzle box against the desk. The mechanisms inside rattled around and a click could be heard. Her face lit up. “Astounding! You drunken pirate you… you figured it out!” Amity pulled out a small key from the puzzle box and handed it to Luz. Luz smiled sheepishly and unlocked the box she had gotten. Inside were 2 more blocks with strange symbols on them and another sheet of paper. This time it was a map of the room. Gus looked over Luz’s shoulder to try and make some sense of it.

“Analyzing…” Gus said as he thought. “Ah! These two lights here!” Gus pointed to the two lights on the map that were closest to the door. “They’re not lit up.”

Luz and Amity smiled as they walked over to the lights. Luz turned off one while Amity turned off the other. In the new darkness they could hear something shift in the room. They looked towards the middle and saw that a compartment had opened up. This contained a final block with weird symbols on it and a numerical grid. When the kids looked at it, they all realized if they stacked the blocks in one of the shelves of the bookshelf, that they’d be able to connect the symbols. Quickly they tried to figure out the right combination and which blocks were which numbers. This time, the alphabetical key word was MAGIC. They plugged it into the letter lock on the dresser drawer and found the final key to escape. Cheering, Gus opened the room to the escape room. They were met with the rest of their friends congratulating them and high fiving them.

The game master came out from a side room and congratulated them too. He explained that since only Luz, Amity, and Gus technically won the escape room, they would be able to choose a prize from the gift shop. The group groaned, now realizing what they had given up. Luz, Amity, and Gus gave each other mischievous looks before splitting up in the shop.

When they got together again, Gus had chosen to get a pack of candy to share with everyone. Amity had gotten a little pin that had the logo of the escape room on it. Luz had gotten a snapback with the same logo. What they didn’t know or expect was for them to exchange their items.

“Oh! I actually got this pin for you Luz. I know you like to put stuff on that jean jacket of yours. It’s starting to get cold so it’ll be a nice addition, just in time for the season.” Amity smiled and handed Luz the pin. Luz laughed and accepted the pin, finding it kind that Amity remembered the jean jacket she had shown her over facetime on one of their late night calls.

“And I got this snapback for you Amity. You have like no hats, I think it’d look nice on you!” Luz placed the cap lopsidedly on Amity’s head. Amity giggled and readjusted it to fit her.

“Look good?” She asked.

“Always.” Luz said.

“Ok you too, i’m gonna have to take Miss Blight home before she sneaks over to your place.” Boscha said, wrapping an arm around Amity’s shoulder and pushing the snapback down to mess it up.

“Yeah I have to get going too, it’s late and I need to check up on my mom and her… guest.” Luz said awkwardly. Everyone gave her a look. She just laughed nervously.

After saying goodbye, the group split up and went their separate ways. As Willow drove Gus and Luz home, the two were texting The Owl Kids group chat about the night. The group chat exploded with texts about everyone’s experiences at the escape room and how much fun they had. Luz smiled to herself. She felt so happy. Then her phone dinged. A message from Eda.

_ Owl Lady: Your mom and I are at the police station. They finally have the dna results. Have your friends drop you off here. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Art for this chapter is up on my Instagram keysstylus (same username as on here) Check it out! I have a highlights reel of my other artwork for this fanfic too! If you decide to make your own fanart, please tag me!! I want to see!!! Thank you for reading! I hope you have a good rest of your day/ night <3


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *evil laughter*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have a seat, friends ;) and enjoy <3

Luz had Willow and Gus drop her off at the police station. She told them her mom was there with Eda about the incident from a few weeks ago and the creep. Willow and Gus insisted they come and support Luz with whatever may happen or any news they may learn. Luz only smiled and asked them politely to go on with their night and not to worry about her. Willow grew concerned as she looked at Luz’s straining face. She could tell her friend was anxious and trying to hide it from them. Although, Willow didn’t want to push Luz. If she didn’t want to shove her way in. She decided to trust Luz and assure herself that if Luz says she’ll be ok, she’ll be ok. All she did was remind Luz to text her about it and to go to bed as soon as she was done since it was almost 10 pm.

Luz waved goodbye to Willow as she stood on the cold concrete steps of the police station. The night was chilly and silent. A few beeps and conversations heard from around the streets of LA. Luz thought back to that day in the forest with Eda. She remembered the feeling she got when she decided not to run after Eda. She had almost forgotten about the creep until now. She had just wanted it to go away. She turned towards the doors of the station. Taking a deep breath, she stepped in.

“Hi, my name is Luz Noceda. My mother Camilia Noceda came in a few minutes ago?” Luz asked the guy at the front desk. The guy typed into his computer and turned towards Luz. He pointed to a door on the right.

“Listen kid, I don’t think my boss would want you to go down there but it’s late and i’m too tired to care. 4th door down that hallway on the left. Don’t cause any trouble.”

“Thank you sir.” Luz nodded to the guy who only gave her a soft and tired old smile. She walked briskly to the room he had told her about. It was just a simple meeting room. The door was closed but seemed to be unlocked. Luz knocked on the door.

“Mija?” Her mother’s voice said from inside the room.

“That’s me.” Luz said. The door opened to reveal her mother. Her hair was back up and her dress had been changed to a comfortable shirt and some jeans. Luz looked over to Eda, surprised to see her in some oversized clothes herself. Camilia must have given her some before they rushed down here. Luz looked down at her feet. Her heart ached as she recalled that it was her going with Eda that caused this whole thing. If they hadn’t gone out that day none of this would have happened. Her mom would still be at the house enjoying her night with Eda, not here concerned for both her and her daughter. Luz’s fists bunched up as the tension filled her head. She felt her mom crouch down and engulf her in a hug.

“Hey hey, mija, it’s ok if you don’t want to be here for this. I just thought it’d be worse to leave you at home by yourself while this was happening.” Camilia whispered softly in Luz’s ear. Luz tightly hugged her mom back.

“No, I do want to be here for this. Did they find out who it was?”

Camilia got up and held Luz’s hand, guiding her over to the table. A picture was laid out on the top of the table. A police officer was sitting in the chair opposite from Eda.

“His name is Jeremy Haese. A drop out college student. He has no previous criminal record. Last I saw he’s still living with his parents.” The officer said. He sounded uninterested and annoyed.

“Well can’t you bring him in or something? Give him some kind of punishment?” Luz asked.

“Are you sure this is your guy? He seems harmless. He’s been off your back for a while now, I would just forget about it and come to us if anything actually happens. Turn in for the night guys, don’t waste your effort.” The officer started collecting the documents and got up from his chair.

“Wait you can’t just stop there! What else can we do?” Asked Camilia.

“Unless you have real evidence of a real crime, nothing.”

“Leave it be Cami, we’ll go home. At least we have a face to look out for.” Eda said, placing a hand on Camilia’s shoulder.

“But this person is a psycho! They cornered you in your house for days!”

“I know, I know Cami. But it’s true, we have no evidence and the guy hasn’t been bothering me for weeks.”

Everyone exchanged frustrated looks. They had another piece of information but still so many questions and concerns, but they decided to call it a night and go back home. The drive home was quiet. Luz wondered why this college drop out would be so interested in Eda. Sure Eda was famous but not as famous as those beauty influencers she sees on Instagram. She’s been in a few famous movies but Luz hadn’t known her fanbase to be crazy. Luz was deep in her thoughts as she looked out the window. Eda dropped the Nocedas off at their house and told them she would stay the night at Liliths again. Camilia was silent as she unlocked the door to their house. Luz played with her fishnets. Poking her fingers through the holes. She felt guilty that she had been out having fun with her friends while her mother’s night got ruined by this on top of worrying about Eda.

“Hey… mama? I-... I’m sorry for ruining your night..” Luz said cautiously.

“Oh mija, you didn’t ruin anything! Me and Eda… we still had fun. Don’t worry about us carino. How was your murder room?”

Luz giggled a little. The two walked into their house once Camilia had gotten it open. There was half eaten food on the table, probably cold by now. Luz immediately helped her mom clean up. It was the least she could do.

“First of all, please don’t call it that. I think people would be concerned, thank god it’s night. Second, I had a lot of fun! We got to play different characters during the escape room. It was really clever of the twins to do that. Really helped us all practice our improv skills.”

“That sounds wonderful mija. Well, I’m gonna head to bed. You should too, don’t stay up late talking to Amity tonight.”

“What? Psh, I would never.”

“I’m not deaf Luz, and I sleep across the hallway from you. You guys should at least try to keep the laughing down.”

“Ok ok, sorry mama. We didn’t mean to disturb you.”

“Well you usually don’t. It’s nice to hear you so happy with your new friend. Amity seems like a much more wonderful person than… well, you know… sorry.”

Luz bit her lip. Anxiety crept up her spine and into her head. She crossed her arms and uncomfortably looked away from her mom. “No no it’s okay.”

“Well no, it’s not okay, she-”

“We were just stupid kids. I should probably get over that. It’s in the past. I wonder how she’s doing now.”

“Right…” Camilia said sadly. As much as Luz didn’t want to talk about it, Camilia had tried to do everything she could to reverse what that girl had done. Taking Luz outside more, trying to clear up her nights to spend with her daughter, supporting her in whatever she wanted to do… and it had worked! Luz was so much better now and Camilia couldn’t be prouder of how far she’d come. Luz was too kind to that girl, she didn’t deserve it. Luz still doesn’t see the wrong in what she did. All she knows is a bad feeling she gets whenever it’s brought up.

The conversation died down after that, Camilia gave Luz a piece of the leftover dessert she had made for her dinner with Eda. Luz picked at it slowly, taking bites here in there amidst her thoughts. Eventually, the two got ready for bed. Camilia gave Luz a kiss goodnight, hoping to send her off in a better mood. It seemed all Luz could think about was memories from the past.

  
  
  


The week had progressed fine after that. Luz was able to get back to normal and assured her mom she was fine. Camilia kept visiting and checking up on Eda whenever she could and whenever she dropped Luz off at the studio to film. Camilia would often sit in on some of the scenes when she had time. This always brought Eda’s mood up for the day. Luz had some suspicions but kept them to herself and the rest of the Owl Kids.

_ Witch bitch: Luz you need to book a room for your mom and Eda _

_ Luz: I’m so glad she’s not in this group chat to see you say that _

_ Witch bitch: Shes acting so sus with you mom Luz, can’t you see it! _

_ Luz: I mean I guess, they just seem like really good friends. _

_ Willow: You are so clueless Luz. It explains a lot. _

_ Luz: Explains what?? _

_ Witch bitch: nothing ;) _

_ Amity: Guys, aren’t you supposed to be at the studio filming right now?? At least you are Luz! _

_ Luz: we’re on a break and Eda is busy talking to my mom. _

_ Gus: You mean flirting _

_ Willow: See! Even Gus sees it! _

_ Luz: I really don’t understand what you guys are seeing there _

_ Witch bitch: What ship name do you think they’d have? _

_ Luz: YOU’RE GIVING MY MOM A SHIP NAME?? _

Luz rubbed her brows as she looked over to her mom and Eda. Was there something more there? She hadn’t really paid attention to how couples interacted with each other often. Her phone dinged and she saw another text from Boscha.

_ Witch bitch: yes, now, where are the twins, Ed would have some great ideas _

_ Amity: Ed here. Em is holding Amity back so I can text you using her phone. Ours got taken away after we talked to that fan at the burger joint. _

_ Gus: Yes Ed! _

_ Willow: Ed! Nice to see you! _

_ Witch bitch: Thank you Amity for unwillingly handing your phone over to Ed. What do you think Ed? Ship name. _

_ Amity: Hmmm Camileda? _

_ Willow: Perfect!! _

_ Gus: That works great! Camileda! _

_ Witch bitch: Okay we’ll refer to them as that now _

_ Luz: I can’t believe you guys _

Luz laughed as she set her phone down. She walked back onto set to begin filming again. She watched as Eda joined her, shooting a wink and finger guns at Camilia.  _ Maybe there is something there _ she thought to herself. Dana called action, pulling Luz out of her thoughts.

  
  
  
  
  
  


Luz kept going through the motions. Get up, go to the studio, act, get lunch, act some more, go home, repeat. She was definitely having fun, but it was getting increasingly tiring. She knew this going into working on  _ The Owl House _ . She knew she would have more work than she usually did before when she was just doing home schooling. She had gone into this only thinking she’d be a background actress without much to do. But suddenly she had been thrust into the position she finds herself in, working tirelessly and constantly as the main character. She loved it most of the time but it was times like this when Luz just wanted to go to the store and get herself a special snack to give herself a reward.

Luz walked through the chips isles, looking for some of her favorites, hoping they wouldn’t be too much. She only had a little money left over from lunch and she didn’t want to ask her mom for more. Luckily, the chips she wanted were half price today and just fit her budget. She grabbed the chips and turned to go to the front of the store before she recognized a certain figure in a black hoodie. It was the creep. The guy had noticed Luz just as Luz had noticed him and he started sprinting away and through the grocery store.

“Hey! Get back here you creep!” Luz shouted, running after him. She chased him through the produce aisle and along the back where all the dairy products were. Luz tried not to get distracted by all of the beautiful dairy products she sadly couldn’t have as she continued to run after the culprit. Eda wasn’t kidding! Even Luz, who thought she was a pretty fast runner, couldn’t catch up to him. The guy turned a quick corner, disappearing from Luz’s view. Luz tried to follow him around but only slammed into another shopper, allowing the creep to get away.

“Oh my god i’m so sorry, SOMEONE STOP THAT-” Luz had pointed past the stranger as she watched the creep leave the store. But her throat closed up when she looked at who she had run into.

“Luz? Luz Noceda?” The girl Luz had run into held out a hand to help Luz up. Luz only nodded as she stared at the girl in disbelief. “Oh it  _ is  _ you! It’s been so long! What? 3 years since you stopped going to school right?”

“I’m homeschooled now.”

“Oh right! Are you still doing that acting thing?”

“Um… yeah.” Luz rubbed her arm as she looked at her feet. From her peripherals, she could tell the girl had changed a lot in 3 years. Her hair was now light brown with some blonde streaks in it and it was shorter and more mature looking than before. She had new bangs that parted on the side and framed her face perfectly. Her clothes were still nice, expensive, and fashionable, just like they were back then. It looked like she had grown a few inches taller than Luz since then too.

“Really?” The girl laughed. “Remember when those kids used to bully you at recess for acting like your weird fantasy characters?”

“Yeah… I remember that.” Luz said uncomfortably.

“Aren’t you glad I bailed you out? That was how we met! You still owe me for that. Anyways- hey, Luz? Hello?”

Luz had been staring into space. Her chest was tight and her eyes wouldn’t meet the girl’s. A finger was snapped in front of her face that caught her attention. “Gosh Luz, you’re the same as before.” She laughed again. “You have to make eye contact like a normal human being!” The girl laughed. “You and your weirdness. Classic Luzzie! That’s what I liked about you though!”

“Please don’t call me that.” Luz said cautiously.

“Oh alright, I agree it  _ is _ kind of outdated. That was kindergarten right? Wow it’s been a long time. I’d never forget my best friend though.” The girl nudged Luz in the side with her elbow. Luz flinched and took a step back.

“Bec you haven’t seen or talked to me for years.” Luz finally said. Her shoulders were tense and she wanted to escape the conversation.

“I was just busy with some stuff. You remember how busy my family always was. So what if we haven’t talked in a while.” Bec put her arm around Luz’s shoulder, guiding her to walk with her. “That doesn’t mean we can’t catch up! ”

“Why are you at the grocery store Bec? I thought you moved?”

“I did, but I moved back here. Y’know, good ol’ childhood memories. And I wanted to see you again! I saw that article about you, wow! You’re working for Disney?”

“I… I am” Luz said. If anything, she wanted to talk about her new opportunities and friends she’s made. That always cheered her up. “The first episode is airing in a month or so, we only have a few more episodes of season 1 to film.”

“Look at you getting all famous! Make sure to talk about me when you’re asked how you were brought up. I honestly think if I hadn’t stood up for you all those times in elementary school you wouldn’t have kept acting.”

“Right…” Luz shrugged Bec’s arm off of her shoulder and started to walk to the checkout area. She had gotten what she wanted, she didn’t need to stay there. “Anyways, I should go, nice talking to you again.”

“Wait! Luuuzzz come onnn that’s all I get? Your long lost best childhood friend?” She clasped her hands and made puppy dog eyes. Luz’s shoulders tensed but she tried to keep walking. Bec glanced at Luz’s chips. “Wait, you’re getting those? Aren’t they really bad for you? Way too much sodium”

“Well… I guess, but I like them.” Bec took the chips out of Luz’s hands and replaced them with a baked whole grain version.

“Here! Try these! Way healthier for you.”

Luz looked at the price tag. “Bec I can’t buy these. I don’t have enough money. I like the other chips and I can pay for them.” Luz reached towards the other bag of chips.

Bec held them up above her head. She was taller than Luz so the latina couldn’t get them. “Haha you look so cute! You were always the taller one in middle school, did you stop drinking your milk? Oh yeah, you’re lactose intolerant.” Bec laughed again.

“Cut it out Bec! It’s not funny.” Luz said, getting frustrated. Bec shot Luz a look.

“Geez alright alright… listen i’m sorry, okay? I’ll pay for the chips if you can’t afford them. Don’t get so wound up.”

Luz held her breath. Guilt and anxiety filling her head. She didn’t mean to yell at Bec. She had just ran into her in a long time, no need for her to be rude. She didn’t understand why she reacted like that. “Yeah… thanks.” Luz said quietly. Bec walked up and put her hands on Luz’s shoulders.

“Come on, let’s go buy this for you.”

  
  
  
  


Once the girls were done buying their items, they headed outside to the sidewalk. Luz kept trying to leave but Bec seemed to always have a reason to stay with her. Eventually, Luz found herself in front of her front door with Bec. She couldn’t find the courage or strength to say no to Bec. She had been her friend for all of elementary and middle school before she moved and Luz started homeschool. Sure she didn’t always make Luz feel nice but most of the time Bec has protected and grown up with Luz. Luz being the kind person she was, didn’t want to feel like she was being rude to her old friend. Camilia wasn’t home yet so luz would have to deal with Bec and get her to leave quickly. They walked inside the house.

“Gosh, it’s the same as I remember it. Where's your room?? I’d assume the same place.” Bec ran off through the hallway and disappeared into Luz’s room.

“Hey! Bec wait!” Luz chased after her, finding Bec investigating her bedroom. Bec opened Luz’s closet, inspecting the clothes in there.

“Yep. Same sense of style I see. Oh! You still have the fish nets?” Bec grabbed the purple fishnets Luz had worn to the escape room a few weeks back. “Didn’t I tell you that you should have gotten rid of these?”

“Well… yeah but I ended up liking them so I kept them.”

Bec gave Luz a questionable look and then started to giggle. “Ok ok I see. Going outside of your comfort zone? Did you think of me! I wore a lot of fishnets in middle school. It’s not my style anymore but whatever.”

“Uhhh… sure…” Luz hadn’t thought twice about Bec when she chose to wear those fishnets. 

Bec laughed and threw the fishnets to the side. She looked further into the closet to see Luz’s favorite jean jacket. It was now covered in pins. “Awww you kept the jean jacket I gave you when we were kids? That’s sweet!” Bec flicked a few of the buttons and pins attached to the jacket. “Why do you have all this metal on it?”

“I just think it’s cool…” Luz said. It was true. Bec  _ did _ get her that jean jacket and always complimented her when she wore it. It was probably one of the fondest memories she had with Bec. Luz smiled a little bit thinking about it. Bec noticed and sat on the bed with Luz. The jean jacket splayed across both of them.

“That birthday party was awesome you know. I’ll never forget it.” Bec said with a soft smile. She rubbed the fabric of the jean jacket’s sleeve.

“It was just us though. I’m thankful you came over and surprised me, I really am. More people would have been more fun though.”

“Well yeah, but it’s better to have one good friend than a lot of them, right? That was our whole motto.” Luz let the nostalgia hit her. When the two girls were in middle school, they didn’t have a whole lot of friends. Bec seemed to get along fine with people but chose to stick with Luz, who had a hard time socially. Luz was grateful for that and never understood why Bec would choose her over all of the popular kids who liked Bec. It baffled her. The thought made Luz think about that past experience. She had come so far now. She had new friends at the studio and it wouldn’t have happened if Bec hadn’t stuck with her in middle school.

“Hey, whats up? Don’t tell me you’re getting into one of your moods again. Remember, smileeee!” Bec turned Luz to look at her and pushed the sides of her mouth up into a smile. “Your smile is so pretty! Come onnn.”

Luz forced a smile, awkwardly avoiding Bec’s eyes. Suddenly, they both heard the front door unlock.

“Mija! I’m home! How was your day?” Yelled Camilia from the front of their house.

“Oh! Is that your mom? I haven’t seen her in forever!” Bec got up and ran over to Camilia, the jean jacket falling off of their legs and onto the floor. Luz got up and ran after her yelling fo rher to wait.

“Mrs. Noceda!! Long time no see!”

Camilia stopped in her tracks when she saw Bec. Her face suddenly changed into a harsh demeanor. Her voice ran cold and dangerous. “Luz. What is she doing here?”

“We uh… ran into each other at the grocery store. She moved back.” Luz said, rubbing her arms.

“Isn’t it great?” Bec exclaimed with a smile. “Just like old times! The house feels just like home Mrs. Noceda, I'm, like, basically your second daughter.”

“I would never consider you my daughter.” Camilia said flatly. Bec laughed nervously, turning to Luz and giving her a look asking for help.

“Heyyy mama, Bec was just about to leave.” Luz said, lightly guiding Bec to the door.

“I guess, but we should hang out more Luz! Text me! My number is the same!” Bec said as Luz waved bye to her and closed the door.

“Luz.” Camilia said, her arms crossed and a disapproving look on her face.

“I know I know… but hey. Maybe this could be a new start. She’s still my friend, I should at least give her a chance.”

What was Camilia supposed to say to her daughter. It wasn’t like she was gonna tell Luz not to give people second chances. She knew she couldn’t force Luz to stay away from Bec. It was this thought that made Camilia so worried for Luz. Her thoughts ran through all of the previous problems the two had and the effects it had on Luz. She took a deep breath and decided to trust Luz. She just nodded and went to start dinner. Luz frowned at Camilia silent disapproval but said nothing of it. She followed her mom to help her. The rest of the night went as it usually does and the situation was lifted from their minds.

  
  
  


Another few weeks had passed and they were finally filming Sense and Insensitivity. Luz was more quiet on set. Only becoming animated for her part. She had definitely grown a resilience as she had gotten used to acting and coming to work every day. She learned from her peers early on how to let outside issues melt away for the sake of her character. The last thing she wanted to do was waste people's time. That was always a constant in her mind. However, her friends noticed her absence off of set. Luz always seemed to be looking at her phone and disappearing during the breaks. After work, the gang would try and walk home with Luz but she would be nowhere to be found. She didn’t have a car to drive and Camilia didn’t get off work early enough to pick her up so they couldn’t wait by a car.

The Owl Kids were starting to worry about Luz. Afraid that maybe it was their shipping of her mom and Eda that spurred this sudden disappearance and distance. Luz always seemed distracted or busy. Her friends kept wondering what was happening. Eventually, Amity took it upon herself to get to the studio really early. Not early enough to catch Luz before filming, since she had acting lessons with Lilith, but well before lunch time so she could talk to her on her break. Amity parked a little ways away from the studio and stood in front of the stairs to the main doors. Luz had to come out eventually, their lunch break should be starting any time now.

Amity was just about to call Luz, but she saw a stranger walk up to the top of the stairs.  _ I’ve never seen her before… I don’t think she’s an actor here. _ Amity thought. Her eyebrow raised when she saw the strange girl greet Luz like an old friend. Amity immediately walked up to Luz.

“Hey Luz! Are you busy? I wanted to talk to you, maybe we could get lunch.”

Luz was weirdly quiet. Her voice was hesitant and wavering a little as she opened her mouth to say, “I… don’t think I can today.”

The dirty blonde haired girl from before took a step forward to stand between Amity and Luz. “She’s having lunch with me today!” The girl gave Amity a creepily cheery smile. Her voice was way too high pitched and happy to not be sending Amity warnings. Amity looked back over to Luz who was holding herself and looking down at her feet. Amity noticed that Luz was wearing a baggier T shirt and some cargo pants. It was a different look Amity had ever seen on Luz. It raised more questions that Luz looked terrible. Her eyes were tired and lacked that excitement Amity had seen constantly before. Amity cursed to herself for not being able to spend time with Luz on set or being in episodes for 8 weeks. If she had just been near Luz, maybe she wouldn’t look like this.

Amity turned her attention towards the girl.  _ Confidence Amity… just like acting. _ She told herself. “I’ll join you for lunch.” She said flatly. Staring straight at the strangers eyes. She held her stance, opening her body language up to show that she wasn’t going to back down. She had a bad feeling about whoever this was, and if she was connected to Luz’s recent behavior, then Amity was determined to get to the bottom of it.

“Ohhhh that’s kind of insensitive, sorry. It’s just, y’know, this was a two person planned thing and well, you’re a third wheel sooo… “ The girl said, still smiling and still with a nasally tone in her voice.

“Well let’s ask Luz. Luz, can I come with you for lunch?” Amity softened her voice a little bit when talking to Luz. Luz had been quiet this whole time. Suddenly, both girls were looking at her and Luz eyed Bec to see her reaction. Bec was just smiling. Smiling and smiling that weird smile of hers. She looked smug so Luz assumed it would be okay.

“I would love it if you came with us Amity.” Luz said, smiling a little at Amity’s name. The two gave each other a soft look. Amity almost wished Luz could read her mind when she nodded to Luz in a way that said “It’ll be alright, I’ve got you.”

“Well if Luz says it’s okay I guess it's okay with me too!”

“Great! What was your name again?” Amity asked.

“Call me Bec.”

“Nice to meet you Bec.” Amity held out a hand for a handshake. “My name is-”

“Oh I know who you are.” Bec grabbed Amity’s hand a little forcefully and shook it hard. She pulled Amity a little closer to her. Bec was about 2 or 3 inches taller than Amity. 

She looked down at the green haired actress. Tightening her grip on Amity’s hand she said, “Amity Blight.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know how you project into other characters your problems? What it's called when you project into other characters other people? I hope that made sense... uh whatever it is, that's what I'm doing here :D 
> 
> Also, I'm so glad I changed my upload schedule to Mon, Wed, Fri. The next half of this fic is gonna be kind of detailed and there's a lot I want to happen so the chapters will be much longer so that I can end the chapters where I want them to end.
> 
> I hope you liked it!! Let me know what you think in the comments or dm me on Instagram, I like to make friends or just say hi! I hope your guys' weekends go great, remember to drink water, eat good food, and do something you love, self care!!   
> \- Key (That's me!)


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to season 1b ;) The second half of this fanfic, just like the show, even better than the first half ;)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy!! Also, art of Bec is on my Instagram at Keysstylus if you wanna have a visual for her. It's in my highlights under "Actor AU Art"

Luz had barely taken a bite of her food. She was too scared that making one sudden move would set off either of the girls next to her. Her hands laid in her lap as she cautiously looked up to look at them. Bec was sitting to her left, resting her elbow on the table and smiling at Amity with closed eyes. Amity, on the other hand, was sipping her drink rather loudly and annoyingly while glaring at Bec. The tension was thick. Luz gulped and reached out to take another bite of her sandwich.

“So Luz! How do you like the food?” Bec exclaimed suddenly. She quickly turned to look at Luz, her eyes wide open in anticipation of Luz’s answer. “Do you like the place I picked out for us?”

“Uh... yeah! It’s pretty good.” Luz said. Amity took another long sip of her drink, still staring at Bec. An airy rattling sound was heard. “Uh… Amity? I think it’s empty.”

Amity stopped trying to suck through the straw. She glanced down and saw that it was only ice. Amity sighed in frustration. She looked between Luz and Bec, taking a little longer to inspect Bec’s content face. Amity fought with herself in her head. “I guess I’ll go refill it.” Amity grabbed her mask and sunglasses, putting them on. She got up slowly, still watching Bec. Bec only smiled at her, cupping her face in her hand. Amity cursed to herself and walked away.

Once Amity was away, Bec turned again to Luz. “She’s probably gonna pee so much after all of this with how much she’s drinking.”

“Right…” Luz said. 

Bec thought for a moment. “Y’know… not gonna lie, she gives me some bad vibes.”

“What? Amity?? No way, she’s really nice and kind and- well y’know.” Luz blurted out.

Bec laughed. “I’ve only just met her and I’ve been nothing but nice to her and she somehow already hates me.”

“Well, I don’t think she  _ hates _ you. Hate is a strong word.”

“Did you see how she was watching me?? I felt so awkward and uncomfortable with her staring at me! Either she has a thing for me or she doesn’t like me.” Bec smirked, sliding closer to Luz and whispering in her ear, “Maybe she doesn’t like me because I’m close with you.”

Luz frowned.  _ Does that seem like Amity? _ She thought. Then she remembered Amity’s siblings saying how Amity got mad because they were hugging her. Luz looked away.  _ Why would she be upset with me hanging out with Bec? _ Luz felt someone take her hand, pulling her out of her head. She turned to look at Bec who was now even closer to her, looking down at her.

“Don’t let her get you down Luz. I’m sure she’s just jealous I was your friend first.”

Luz shook her hand out of Bec’s. “Whether you were my friend first or not, Amity is still really kind to me and makes me happy. I don’t know why she’s acting like this all of a sudden.”

“Well, it sounds pretty two-faced to me.” Bec said.

“Two-faced?”

“Yeah, like she acts one way with you but another way with other people. Have you seen  _ that _ before?”

Luz thought about the times where she seemed to see a completely different side of Amity. She remembered how weird she felt about it. She hadn’t really thought about it until now.  _ I’m sure Amity has a reason for it though _ Luz thought to herself. “Look, I would rather not talk about her behind her back.” Luz said, hoping to direct the conversation away from Amity.

“Oh everyone talks about her behind her back.” Bec said nonchalantly.

“What do you mean ‘everybody’?” Luz questioned, worriedly.

“Well her name isn’t exactly subtle.” Bec said. “And she doesn’t pay any attention to her fans so, of course, there’s a lot of criticism about her in the media right now. Being the youngest debuting Blight and all.”

Luz thought again about that night at the escape room and why Amity wears a mask and sunglasses. Was it to hide from her fans and the press? Why would she want to avoid people who look up to her? Luz was starting to realize that there was a lot more to Amity than she thought and that maybe she didn’t know Amity as well as she thought she did. Speak of the devil, the green-haired actress was walking back to the table already.

“Sorry guys, I have to go to a meeting. Thank you for lunch, I already paid inside.” Amity pulled up her mask and put her sunglasses back on. Texting someone on her phone and then waving goodbye to Luz. “Text me, Luz.”

Luz waved to her as she left. She watched her get into her car and drive away. Bec nudged Luz.

“All work and no fun. What a shame. I was excited to get to know her. Not many people have the luxury.” Bec smiled at Luz who was still looking at where Amity used to be.

  
  
  
  


Bec and Luz had finished their food after Amity left and then drove back to the studio. After filming a little bit more of Sense and Insensitivity, Dana got up to make an announcement.

“Listen up everyone!” Dana spread her arms wide and gave a huge smile. “After reaching out to your coworkers I wanted to talk to you too. Thank you so much for all your hard work on season 1 A!! Your dedication is why the first episode is airing on time this Saturday! I encourage you all to take a look and then afterward thank the editing and special effect teams for their continued effort to make this a memorable Disney show! We already have lots of anticipated watchers from my Twitter poll I held this morning! Super excited guys! Take a break and we’ll get right back to it.”

The room started clapping and cheering, applauding Dana’s speech. The room was now abuzz with people from all different aspects of the show talking in excitement about their Saturday night plans. Luz looked around and smiled. The previous tension lifted from her shoulders as she sank into the familial feeling of the studio. Willow and Gus ran up to her, engulfing her in a hug.

“Luz!” they yelled. 

“Thank god we could catch you. Do you know how hard it’s been to talk to you in the past few weeks?? We have so much to catch up on.” Gus said.

“But first,” Willow said, placing a hand on Gus’ shoulder to contain his excitement. “Boscha is planning a first episode rewatching party at her house! The whole cast is invited! Amity, Ed, Em, Gus, and me too! Alex and Eda are gonna chaperone and make sure we don’t stay up too late since Boscha’s parents are gonna be out of town this weekend. What do you think?”

“Oh yeah! I’ll make sure to be there!”

“Awesome! Boscha said she’ll text the group chat with more info later. I’m excited!! I also get to check on the succulent and we’ll decide who won the bet!”

“Oh god, the group chat! I have to get caught up. I turned notifs off on there. Wait I thought the bet was only for a month,” Luz questioned.

“Willow pitied her and gave her another month to try and save the plant. I doubt Boscha was able to revive it.” Gus said.

Luz laughed. Gus and Willow both smiled at each other. They hadn’t heard Luz laugh offset in a while. The three continued to catch up. Talking and loosening up as they went. Luz laughed and laughed, smiling a genuine smile as she hugged Willow and Gus realizing how much she missed them.

The next day, Luz went through her normal routine. To the studio, act, film, break, lunch, back to the studio, act again, break, etc. She checked her phone whenever she could, a little concerned that Bec hadn’t texted her in a while. Maybe she was busy with modeling stuff. Bec had told her in one of their conversations that she had moved to start a career in modeling. This was completely new to Luz. She would have never thought Bec would get into modeling. Bec was never really interested in doing anything when Luz knew her in middle school. She was a free and wild spirit. Luz looked at the contact list, wondering if she should text Bec. Instead, she texted Amity.

_ Luz: Hi! :D _

Luz stopped after she sent the message. Her mind wandering back to her conversation with Bec yesterday. About how Amity seems to change whenever she’s with someone. Her phone dinged, a notification. She had turned them back on.

_ Amity: Hi :) How are you? _

Luz couldn’t help but smile.

_ Luz: I’m good. What’s with the emoticon? You rarely use those! _

_ Amity: No reason, just felt like it _

_ Luz: Happy to talk to me? _

_ Amity: Always _

Luz laughed at their texts. She kept texting Amity, talking about new music to add to the lofi playlist. It has now turned into a general lofi playlist instead of a cartoon theme song lofi playlist. Amity shared her own taste in lofi music which Luz was happy to see since it meant she succeeded in getting Amity into lofi music. They had only been texting for a few minutes before Luz got a call from the police department. She quickly texted Amity that she had to go but that she was happy to talk to her. When she picked up the call she heard the same old tired voice from that night her, Eda, and Camilia went to the police station.

“Hello?” Luz said.

“Hello, is this Luz Noceda?” The voice said.

“Um, yes it is.”

“Good, there are some police officers here who want to talk to you and your mom. Eda Clawthorne is already in the station being interrogated.”

“Wait interrogated?? Why?”

“I don’t know kid, I just work the front desk. They want you to get here as soon as you can.”

“O-okay…” Luz said nervously. “Thank you, goodbye.”

The call ended. Luz had thought she’d get more information about the creep, not get called in to get interrogated. She racked her brain trying to figure out what she could have done to need to be interrogated. Then she realized she was still at the studio.

_ Crap!  _ Luz thought. She looked around to find Dana talking to someone else. Luz groaned to herself, trying to muster up the courage to interject their conversation. She walked up to Dana. 

“Hey Dana, I’m being called to the police department. Can I get let off early today?”

Dana turned to look at Luz. “Oh! I hope everything is okay. Thank you for telling me. Of course, you can go! Sounds serious.” Luz smiled at her and ran away, yelling a thank you over her shoulder.

She ran down to the police department as fast as she could. She cursed not having a car to ride in. Although, it was the afternoon so the traffic was probably worse than just running. Luz got there in 40 minutes. She burst through the doors, startling the old broad at the front desk.

“Oh, it’s you. Late?”

“No, I ran.” Luz panted.

“Well, they’re waiting for you in room 3B. Down the hallway, 3rd door on your right.” The guy pointed to the other hallway across from the hallway she had been in the night of the escape room.

“Thank you.” Luz said as she opened the door and walked away. Her thoughts were filled with what may be the cause of this. Has Luz even ever committed any crimes? She didn’t think so. Maybe accidentally? Luz had no idea. All she knew was that behind the next door was some police officer ready to talk to her about… whatever may be the issue. She opened the door to a blank room with a camera in the top right corner. A small table with two water bottles sat on top of it. One opened and drank a little. The other was still cold and untouched. The police officer was sitting in one of the two chairs available.

“Luz Noceda. Take a seat.”

Luz gulped and sat down. Her hands started getting clammy which only worsened her worries since it made her look even more suspicious.

“We got a call a week ago that Jeremy Haese is missing. His mother reported it to us. We assumed to go to you, your mother, and Eda Clawthorne for some answers since you three are the only ones who have associated with him in the past month or two.” The officer said.

“Wait… you couldn’t go out looking for him when he wasn’t missing when we asked you to? But when he somehow does go missing suspiciously after our complaint,  _ now  _ you look for him??”

“Miss Noceda, this is a missing persons case with evidence of his disappearance. Your complaint had no evidence to back it up. Only a ripped piece of fabric. We literally can’t investigate it. Now, can you please answer the following questions.”

“Alright, I’ve got nothing to hide.”

“Have you come in contact with Jeremy Haese in the last week?’

“No.”

“Last month?”

Luz hesitated. Was the grocery incident a month ago? She thought hard.

“I’ll take your silence as a yes.” the officer said, writing something on a piece of paper. “Explain to me how you came in contact with Jeremy Haese.”

“Well… I was at my local grocery store… and I saw him… and, as Eda and I explained, he kept Eda in her house all day and so I chased after him.” Luz said awkwardly. The officer was writing notes. “But I didn’t lay a finger on him. He’s a really fast runner. He got away. Didn’t see which way he went. He was wearing a black hoodie though and a hat to cover his hair. Some regular blue jeans and worn out nike sneakers.”

“Thank you Miss Noceda. I doubt that you, a 16-year-old, would want anything to do with a college dropout but your mother is still being interrogated right now so just as you are innocent until proven guilty, you can also be guilty until proven innocent.”

“Right… thank you. I’ll keep that in mind. Is there anything I can do?”

“Just report to us if you see him again. I know you guys might have issues with him, but remember that he’s a person too with problems and a worried family just like you.”

“I understand sir. Thank you,”

After a little bit more talking, the officer allowed Luz to go see her mom. When she went to the room her mom was being interrogated in, it was locked. This time, Luz didn’t knock. She just decided to wait outside until they were done. She didn’t hear them say Eda was here so Luz assumed she finished up pretty quickly. Hopefully, her mother would do the same.

About 10 minutes of waiting later, her mom finally emerged from the room.

“Mama, why did it take so long?”

“Well mija, sometimes you get stuck with the racist cop so your daughter, who actually ran into the missing guy, doesn’t have to.” Camilia said frustratedly. 

“Oh… I’m sorry. I could have handled it y’know.”

“I’m sure you could have carino, but I didn’t want to take any chances. I love you, I’m not upset with you, please know that.”

“I know mama.” Luz said as she hugged Camilia. “Why do you think he disappeared all of a sudden?”

“I’m not sure but whatever it is, it’s not good. I hope he comes back home soon. I can’t imagine how worried his mother would be. I know how worried I would be if you went missing.”

“I’m never leaving your side.” Luz said firmly as she enjoyed the embrace of her mom. Luz had never thought about the creep’s implications. She always assumed they were bad. Maybe there’s more to the story than just keeping Eda in her house all day and taking an unwanted photo of her and Luz. Maybe there’s more to every story. Her mind wandered back to Amity but quickly changed course back to the creep. She looked up at her mom. “What do you think he’s running from?”

“Obviously not the police since they seem to be very kind towards his case. He’s a loner and doesn’t have any known friends and his mother is the only one with him.”

“What happened to his dad?”

“I don’t know mija, it’s not my place to know. That’s just what the officer told me.”

“If he’s not running from anyone, why is he missing?”

“Well… sometimes people disappear because they’re afraid. Or sometimes they run from their problems. Enough about this, let’s go home.”

The two walked hand in hand back to their house, processing and thinking over this new information that they never thought would be brought about. Another side to this confusing story they find themselves in.

  
  
  
  
  


Finally, it was Saturday. Somehow it couldn’t have come sooner. Boscha was readying her house for the guests. Eda and Alex had shown up early to help along with Willow. They cleaned the house from Boscha being alone all day and already making a mess of it. Eda and Alex had also brought snacks for The Owl Kids to enjoy before and as they watched the episode. Alex, being the boyfriend of the producer, had already seen a lot of the episode after editing so he was very excited to see the kids’ reactions to it. Eda, on the other hand, didn’t always care to watch herself act. She always felt it was a little awkward since she remembers filming it without all the special effects.

Willow had just finished setting up the TV room with all the blankets and pillows in the house when she heard Boscha walk over to her.

“Ready?” The pink-haired girl asked.

“As I’ll ever be,” Willow replied. “How do feel about watching yourself on tv?”

“I love it.”

Willow rolled her eyes. “Of course you do. I don’t really like to watch myself on screen. Like Eda.”

“Oh.” Boscha said. She suddenly felt uncomfortable, not knowing what to say in response. “Um… I’ll like watching you on screen for you.”

Willow laughed and smiled up at Boscha. “Okay?” Boshca felt her face heat up.

“Tsch, whatever plant girl. Hey, about that, are we gonna do a public showing of the succulent? To surprise everyone with who won?”

“Oh yeah! That sounds fun. You sound confident.”

“Maybe I am.” Boscha said, smirking.

“Oh wow! Boscha is only ‘maybe’ confident! That’s new. Last time I saw the succulent it was on the verge of dying. I even gave you an extra month!” Willow started laughing harder. Boscha only smirked.

“We’ll see, we’ll see.”

Slowly but surely, everyone joined the party. First was Gus, then Ed, Em, and Amity all in one car, much to Amity’s disapproval. Finally should be Luz. It was already almost 8pm and people were starting to get worried. It’s not like Luz to leave them hanging.

“Someone text her.” Gus said.

“I vote Mittens! Luz has gotta respond if it’s her.” Ed said, receiving a slap on the head by Amity. The green-haired girl proceeded to pull out her phone and text Luz.

_ Amity: Hey, everyone is waiting for you? Where are you? _

They waited a little bit. No response. The group became increasingly nervous. Then, a message.

_ Luz: Hi! Sorry… I don’t think I can make it. _

_ Amity: All of a sudden? _

_ Luz: Yeah _

“She says she can’t make it” Amity said.

“Bullshit.” Boscha exclaimed. “I call bull shiittt” She grabbed Amity’s phone and started tapping away.

_ Amity: Hi, Boscha here, you get your ass here in 5 minutes or else we’re coming to get you! You’re the main character of the show for christ sake! _

Boscha shoved the phone back into Amity’s hands who read it and lightly hit Boscha. “Boshca!” Amity was suddenly angry. “What if she really has something going on? What if her mom got hurt or something?”

“Oh yeah? And why wouldn’t she tell us? Huh? If it was important she would tell us.” Boscha said.

“Well not exactly… Luz tends to keep her issues to herself recently… I’ve noticed it before. It seems very unlike Luz to do that. I wonder what changed.” Willow chimed in.

“Well looks like we have to at least do a wellness check. If she’s ok then we drag her with us. If it’s serious, we let her off the hook.” Em said, grabbing her keys. “Who’s coming?”

Everyone followed Emira to her car. Boscha yelled over her shoulder, “Alex! Eda! Record the episode! We’re gonna be a little late!”

  
  
  
  


Once the gang had gotten to Luz’s house, they found Luz sitting out on her front steps. Her head was in her hands and her phone was by her side. Amity immediately got out of the car and ran to Luz. Willow and Gus were about to get out too but Ed and Em winked at them to signal to stay in the car.

“Luz! What happened? What’s wrong?”

“Uh… nothing with me.”

“Then come on! Let’s go watch the first episode already!” Amity lightly tugged on Luz’s arm. She was wearing an oversized T-shirt and some shorts. She didn’t even have shoes on. She looked like she wasn’t even getting ready for the rewatch party. Luz wouldn’t budge. “What’s going on? What are you not telling us?”

Luz looked away and rubbed the back of her neck. “Bec texted me telling me she was gonna come over. I tried to tell her I couldn’t hang out tonight but she didn’t respond. She hasn’t texted me in a while so I was worried something happened.”

“But Luz, you had plans tonight. She should respect that. If she’s not responding then it’s her fault. You would have texted her that you can’t hang out.”

Luz hugged her knees. She was trying so hard to make herself just go with Amity and have a good night. But the guilt she felt ditching Bec was weighing her down. Amity looked at the latina and then huffed. “Am I gonna need to pick you up?”

“What? No! I- I can walk I assure you.”

“Then walk!”

“But-”

“No buts, come on. Please? I promise you it’ll be okay. Are you gonna throw away your plans with your group of friends over one person who won’t even explain why she’s suddenly coming over?”

Luz thought for a second. Fumbling with her hands and rolling her heel on the ground, she looked back at the empty house. Camilia was working a really late shift. Luz turned back to Amity and saw past her, all of her friends waiting in the car.

“Get in loser, we’re going to a rewatch party!” Emira shouted. Luz laughed a little bit at the mean girls reference, a few tears coming to her eyes as she made her decision.

“Ok.” Is all Luz said as she took Amity’s hand and ran over to the car, still in her socks.

  
  
  
  


The gang ate snacks all night and watched the episode. They reminisced on how summer of last year they were filming that episode. They laughed at Alex recreating his lines in his King voice and of Eda and Luz telling funny blooper stories. Luz showed everyone videos and pictures she saved to her camera roll from those weeks they filmed the first episode. The group collectively agreed that Luz had come a really far way in her acting capabilities. Eventually, the group had settled down. They took to their phones to tweet out about the first episode. Eda and Luz both gained plenty of followers from the new episode. Alex, not too many since he was already known for his work on Gravity Falls. Luz was happily responding to comments and dms from young viewers who were so happy to see an afrolatina in a Disney show. Luz was glad she could be that for people since she would have loved a Disney afrolatina to look up to as a kid growing up. The outpour of love over the episode only made Luz brim with happiness, pushing away her worries about Bec.

Willow and Boscha stood in front of the TV and the group.

“Ahem” Boscha said, clearing her throat. “Here ye, here ye, we doth cometh to you all with great news from thy lordship on the dealings of  _ Le Bet _ ” Boscha said in an english accent. The group giggled at this.

“What Boscha is trying to say is we get to find out if she killed the plant or not.”

“Drum roll please!” Boscha said as she ran around the corner to get the plant. Everyone started drumming their knees or the ground in anticipation. “Ta dahhhh” Boscha said, raising up the succulent.

“Wow.” Amity said.

“Yeah, it’s not dead” Ed said, dumbfounded.

“Ha! Pay up!” yelled Em to Ed. Edric reluctantly handed a $20 bill over to Emira.

“How did you do it?” Willow asked.

Bosca looked away and blushed. “I just… you know ...cared for it and shit…”

Willow nudged Boshca. “Well i’m glad I was able to teach you something.” She winked at the pink haired actress, only making her more embarrassed.

“It’s whatever. Turns out you have to do more than just water it every day and let it sit in sunlight. Some plants need different fertilizer or different soil. Some need lots of water and lots of sun or little of both or a mix of either.”

“Wow look at you.” Willow laughed. “And you call  _ me _ plant girl.”

“This is basic stuff okay!” Boscha said. “I did what I had to do to make it survive.”

“Boshca you didn’t make it survive. You made sure it did.”  _ Because beneath it all, you actually care about things. _ Willow thought to herself. She decided not to say that last bit out loud since she thought Boshca’s superiority complex wouldn’t be able to handle it.

“Yeah yeah whatever, hand over your instagram!”

Willow laughed and held up her hands in defense. She grabbed her phone and gave Boscha the log in information. The first post was of The Owl Kids all in one big selfie.

  
  
  
  


Finally, it was getting late and people were starting to go home. First Willow and Gus, then Ed and Em wanted to leave but they had a small problem. Luz had fallen asleep on Amity and Amity was too smitten to do anything about it.

“You useless disaster.” Boscha said as she looked down at Amity who was sitting on the floor, back against the couch, blanket over her legs and ontop of that Luz’s sleeping head.

“She’d been exhausted for the past like month Boscha, it’s not like i’m gonna wake her up.”

“Sure right. That’s totally why.” Boscha looked around. “Well get yourselves comfortable. Ed and Em said they’d wait in the car. I have to clean up before my moms return in the morning. I would ask you to help but you’ve got…” Boshca pointed to Luz. “Other issues.”

As Boscha walked away, Amity groaned. She looked down at the sleeping girl and started to play with her hair. The soft tufts of brown hair perfectly framed Luz’s face. Amity traced from the girl’s hair to her soft face. She traced the latina’s features, watching the slow rise and fall of her chest. She looked so peaceful. Her fingers stopped at Luz’s lips which were slightly parted and slowly breathing. Amity just stared. Her thoughts running wild. Then suddenly, a phone lit up, catching her attention. It was Luz’s phone. Amity didn’t mean to read the text message, but she saw it.

_ Bec: I’m outside your house. Where are you? :( _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think!! I loved your guys' comments on the last one haha XD Don't forget about my Draw This In Your Style contest on my Instagram!! Ok, stay hydrated, eat good food, sleep at a reasonable time tonight, and take care fo yourselves! <3 I hoped you enjoyed!


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IMPORTANT - 1 Trigger Warning in this chapter, it will be formatted like this:
> 
> (TW// ---)  
> *text*  
> (TW END)
> 
> It is only a small section of the chapter but I wanted to put it because it would be triggering for me and I don't want it to trigger anybody else. Thank you, hope you enjoy!

Amity sighed and set the phone down. The light of the screen disappeared from her face. She looked back to Luz who was staring back at her with sleepy eyes.

“Gah!” Amity shrieked. “Oh! Uhhh Luz! You’re awake!”

Luz stirred and nuzzled into Amity’s lap. “Half awake, grocery girl. Who texted me?”

Amity wanted to lie. She really did. But how could she in front of Luz who was looking at her so innocently. “... Bec.” She said reluctantly.

Luz got up, making Amity frown at the loss of contact. “What did she say?” Luz asked Amity.

“She, uh, she’s at your house… wondering where you are.” Luz was now wide awake. She fumbled with her fingers, picking at her already short and chewed fingernails, a detail Amity had noticed but hadn’t thought much of until now. She grabbed Luz’s hands to get her to stop. “Hey, it’ll be ok. I’m sure she’s fine and will leave eventually.”

“Well… I have to go home anyway. Can you, Ed, and Em drive me?” Luz said, grasping Amity’s hands in her own.

Amity winced. She couldn’t comprehend how Luz couldn’t see how Bec was causing her to become exhausted. It wasn’t like Amity had a choice though. Before she could say yes though, Luz opened her mouth to speak again.

“Am, I know you don’t particularly like Bec. But I know her and I _know_ she doesn’t often have issues or at least she doesn’t tell me about them. If she’s having trouble and needs to come over to my house then it must be something bad. So please, can you drive me back so I can at least check on her?”

Amity sighed. “Okay.” She said reluctantly. She understood Luz’s concern. Luz was so kindhearted and thought about the wellbeing of others. Whether or not they’re bad or not for her health. Amity knew that Bec was a human being just like her and that no matter what, if there truly is a problem, Amity shouldn’t have Luz turn a blind eye on her.

The two joined Ed and Em in the car and explained the situation. Em gave Amity a concerned look only to see that Amity was condoning it. Em could tell that Amity had her own worries about the situation but that she was putting Luz before herself and trusting Luz. Em hoped that this all didn’t come back and bite Amity in the butt. Ed was able to get to the house quickly for Luz’s sake. This late at night it was much quieter and the streets were less crowded. He had no trouble getting Luz back home.

After waving goodbye and giving goodbye hugs, Luz noticed Bec was nowhere to be seen. She walked up to the front door, groaning when she realized she forgot to lock it. Camilia still wasn’t home so Luz at least let out a breath of relief when she realized Camilia didn’t know. Luz quickly got inside and locked the door behind her. The lights were off except for her room. She didn’t remember leaving her light on.

Luz walked towards the bedroom, a little wary of any creep or burglar that may jump out and get her. She quickly turned the corner, ready to fight, but only found Bec in a hoodie, lying on her bed. Her hood was up and she was turned away from the door so she probably didn’t know Luz was there. Luz walked towards her and lightly put a hand on Bec’s shoulder. This triggered Bec to quickly turn around and swat Luz’s hand away. Her hood covered her face a little bit but upon seeing that it was Luz, she lifted her head, exposing a huge bruise on her right cheek.

“Oh... “ Bec said, turning her head away again. “Nice of you to show up.” She crossed her arms and turned away from Luz again. “Why didn’t you answer my texts?”

“I had already texted you I wouldn’t be able to hang out tonight.” Luz said, calmly trying to explain herself.

“And yet here you are? What were you doing?” Bec turned her head slightly, displaying a harsh glare to Luz.

Luz fumbled with her hands behind her back. She bit her lip. “I was… at the police station. Uh… they wanted to ask me about the creep. Apparently, he went missing and I was, of course, a possible person involved due to my experience with him.”

Bec’s face softened only a little. “Well… you could have texted me that.”

“I was busy trying to get to the station, I-” Luz stopped when she looked into Bec’s eyes. Their stare was ice cold and piercing. Luz gulped. “Y-you’re right…” She rubbed the back of her neck. “I should have probably explained myself… I’m sorry.”

“Apology accepted.” Bec said, turning fully towards Luz. She smiled and hugged Luz, who didn’t hug back at first. Luz only sat on the bed next to Bec, allowing herself to be held by Bec.

“I’m sorry for not being here for you… what happened? The bruise I mean.” Luz gestured towards Bec’s cheek. 

Bec flinched. “It’s… it’s nothing.” She said with a smile.

“Hey… stop smiling. You’re always smiling. Doesn’t it hurt your cheek?”

Bec used her hands to push the corners of her mouth up into a wider smile. “Maybe, but can’t I pretend it doesn’t hurt? You know, people say that if you smile more it’ll convince your brain to be happier.”

Luz laughed. “Yeah… you’ve told me that before. Countless times.” The latina looked around the room and then back at Bec. “But that’s no reason to just ignore it. Here.” Luz got up and walked out of the room. Bec sat on the bed wondering what Luz was doing. A minute or two later, she came back with an ice pack. Luz sat down again and pressed it to Bec’s face. “There. This should help.” Luz stared intently at the ice pack in her hand. The cold feeling was different from the warmth she had felt at the party while sleeping on Amity. She reminded herself to apologize to Amity for doing that. It was probably uncomfortable for her. “Instead of ignoring this, is there anything else I can do to make it better?” Luz asked Bec.

Bec took the ice from Luz and applied it herself. She looked away. “No… but maybe we could talk about happy things. All this negativity is so bothersome. Elementary school was so much more fun. Remember that?”

“Of course I do. We were probably the most problematic kids in our class.” Luz and Bec laughed together. They talked about all of their adventures when they were kids. Using stuffed animals as members of their pirate crew. Using a tire as part of an imagined pirate boat. Using a random shirt Luz had as the sail. This had all only happened in a week of their childhood. They both had very short attention spans to want to play pirates for longer than that. They remembered how they played aliens at recess. How they made funny noises and goofy faces to try and make each other laugh. The trouble the two caused for their poor teachers. The memories definitely cheered Bec up.

“Haha, and then we ran into the mud to escape them! God, we got so dirty that day. My mom had to wash my clothes like three times to get all of the stains out.” Luz said, smiling at Bec.

“Yeah… my parents literally killed me when I got home!” Bec said.

“Oh yeah, how are they? I never really knew them. You were always the one coming over to my house.”

Luz watched Bec closely. The girl bit her lip but proceeded to smile at Luz. “They’re good. Y’know… busy with doctor stuff. They uh… they support me though. Y’know in modeling.”

“Right! I’ll have to come over to your house sometime. Say hi.”

“I actually live on my own now.”

“Wait really? Why?” Luz questioned.

“Well it’s more like, my parents live at work and only come to check on me once and a while.”

“Ohhhh I see. Yeah, my mom is working really late tonight. The struggles of the medical field.”

“I feel ya. Camilia comes home around 6 most days though right? I remember that when we were kids.” Bec said, pushing a piece of hair behind her ear and combing through her bangs.

“Yeah, she’s trying to be more involved in my acting. She even has a few scenes in the first episode that aired today!”

“Oh yeah! I’ll have to watch it.” Bec said. The two were silent for a few minutes, not sure what to say next. Bec turned to smile at Luz. “I want to take you somewhere.” She said, grabbing Luz’s hands and pulling her away.

“Wait, where? I have to get my shoes on! Bec!” Luz couldn’t stop Bec though. What Luz lacked in arm strength, Bec made up for the both of them. Luckily, Luz grabbed some sneakers that were discarded around the house as she was being dragged out the door.

  
  
  
  
  


“Okay what are we doing?” Luz asked. She was no longer being pulled by Bec. Only following her through the dark silence of the neighborhood. Luz wasn’t used to the dark yet so she had a hard time figuring out what was happening or what direction they were going. The street lights weren’t exactly the best. She had to rely on Bec to lead them wherever they were going. Eventually, Luz recognized the sound of asphalt. She looked around. A little light escaping from the moonlight, illuminating the parking lot they were in. “Oh, this is-”

“Yep.” Bec winked. She grabbed Luz again, pulling her through the opening in the fence. “I thought I could visit this place with you.”

“Why would you want to come here?” Luz asked her. Once they were through, Luz saw the familiar setup of the rocks and benches surrounding a campfire pit. The trees around them with carvings of E’s and L’s. She had a bad feeling about coming back here with Bec.

“I saw the article, remember? The photo looked familiar. I thought we could…” Bec used air quotes. “‘Repurpose it’”

Luz looked at her quizzically. Bec took out two spray paint cans from her bag. Luz stepped back a little. “Whoa whoa whoa what are you doing?”

“What does it look like? I’m gonna paint it!”

“But… this is…” Luz stopped for a second. How was Bec supposed to know this place was special to Eda and Lilith. “I just don’t think this is such a good idea.”

“Oh please, nobody will know. Have a little fun. It’s been a long night. Loosen up!” Bec tossed her one of the cans and kneeled down to one of the rocks. She shook the can and pointed the nozzle at the face of the rock. Luz gritted her teeth and without thinking, stepped forward and swatted the spray can out of Bec’s hand. Luz dropped her own can and cupped her mouth immediately after.

“I- I’m sorry Bec! I don’t know why I- I’m sorry.” Luz said frantically. Bec took a deep breath and smiled at Luz. She got up and stood tall over Luz.

“Listen. I don’t know what your deal is with this place. Isn’t this where all that stuff with the photo happened? When you have bad memories you paint over them! Like we did in middle school.”

“We’re not in middle school anymore Bec!” Luz said, getting in Bec’s face. Bec just kept smiling, closing her eyes and laughing lightly.

“Obviously Luz. Listen, put it this way. You wouldn’t be in that situation if Eda hadn’t dragged you into her problems. You didn’t ask to get involved! I say, this is payback.”

“I don’t want payback. I don’t hold any ill will towards Eda!”

“How could you not be at least a little frustrated with Eda? I bet you were in the moment, maybe before? You were, weren’t you! Just tell me Luz, come on, tell me i’m right!”

Luz winced, her shoulders tensing. Bec wasn’t wrong. Luz suddenly felt guilty for feeling upset with Eda when she had come to her house unannounced, bringing her family into Eda’s problem. She remembered how mad and frustrated she felt at Eda. Bec sighed and put her hand on Luz’s shoulder. “See, I can tell you did. It’ll be quick, just a little mark.”

Luz looked at her feet. “Ok.” She said in defeat. She knew she couldn’t change Bec’s mind.

“There’s the Luz I know! I’m gonna paint something too!”

“Why? This isn’t your ‘payback’ as you called it.”

“Luz if I want to spray paint something I can. You don’t own this little space in the woods. Now let’s just stop talking and have fun already!”

Luz frowned. She let out a sigh and crouched down. Hesitating to press the nozzle to spray. She saw Bec watching her out of the corner of her eye. Taking a breath, she made a small mark.

“Oh come onnnn, so boring.” Bec crouched next to Luz. “Like this!” Bec made a B with her spray paint. “Now that, that’s awesome.” She looked to Luz. “Your turn.”

Luz handed Bec her can. “I’m good. I made my mark. Knock yourself out.” She said somberly, getting up and walking over to a tree to stand against.

“Lame… whatever.” Bec said, scoffing. Luz looked away as Bec continued to paint on the rocks. Luz stuffed her hands in her pockets and looked at the stars. Losing herself in her thoughts.

  
  
  
  
  


The next week, The Owl Crew was starting to film Adventures in the Elements. They were taking a week long trip to a snowy area in LA to shoot the scenes at The Knee. As Ed, Em, Amity, and Luz carpooled to the top of the snowy hill, they each looked outside and marveled at the white sheets of soft snow that covered the land. They spent so much time in the sunny city working for the past few months that they almost forgot it was mid-January. It was still technically winter in LA. Amity looked over to Luz, who was sitting next to her in the back seat. Luz was wearing a big fluffy coat that would act as her outfit for the Knee scenes. Amity was wearing her own snow gear, finding it much less cute than Luz’s. 

Amity sighed as she gazed at the adorable hat Luz was wearing. As cute as it may be, it was due to a constant bedhead Luz seemed to have. The green haired actress frowned when she linked it to the bags under Luz’s eyes. Amity wondered what could be keeping her up so late at night to cause this. She watched Luz closely. The car was quiet, allowing her to hear the shallow and shaky breaths Luz was taking as she stared out the window, lost in thought.

Amity decided to break the silence. “Hey” she said softly, reaching over and laying a light hand on Luz’s. “Everything okay?” She asked.

Luz seemed a little startled by the contact. She turned to see Amity’s worried face. Luz’s face contorted into a forced smile. “Yeah… are you excited to film?” Luz’s voice shook. Amity’s heart dropped. Ed and Em looked at each other, then at Amity in the back seat with a concerned face.

“Hey, we’re at the parking lot so we have to walk the rest of the way to the site we’re filming at.” Em said to the two girls. “Ed and I will go ahead.” Emira looked at Amity, slightly nodding to her, hoping that she knew what to do. It didn’t take a genius to tell something was actively growing worse and worse with Luz. Emira may not have spent a lot of time with Luz, but she knew Luz meant a lot to Amity. Knowing her baby sister, those feelings were probably returned. Meaning, Emira trusted that if anyone could help Luz, it’d be Amity. Edric could almost read his sisters’ minds as he nodded too and guided Emira away from the car. They took the lead on the snowy path, Amity and Luz following behind them.

“Luz, please talk to me.” Amity said. She hated this awkward silence between them. She wished she could go back to the beginning, when they were having lunch together every day and staying up to talk and how Luz made Amity laugh so hard in so long that Amity… it wasn’t important what Amity missed though. Right now, Luz was upset, and Amity knew that this was all that mattered. 

(TW // panic attack)

Luz was holding her breath, physically struggling to find the words to talk. She looked away from Amity, twiddling her thumbs and picking at her fingernails. Amity grabbed her hands, pulling her in and stopping them from walking. “Luz…” Amity said softly. She shook Luz’s hands a little, painfully watching the latina refuse to look at Amity in the eyes, her face shielded from Amity’s view. “Luz!” Amity said a little louder. The sound made Luz snap up and look at Amity. Her gut felt queasy and her hands trembled in Amity’s. “Luz… please…” Amity said desperately.

Hot tears started to come from Luz’s eyes. The latina immediately turned back around, ripping her hands from Amity’s. “I’m sorry!” Luz yelled, her voice still trembling, breaking a little. “I’m sorry… I’m sorry…” Luz kept saying, getting quieter and quieter, meeker and more scared. Amity couldn’t bear it. She acted without thinking, wrapping Luz in a loose but warm hug. 

“Hey hey, you have nothing to be sorry for.” Amity comforted lightly. Luz turned around and buried her head in Amity’s winter coat, tears staining it for the time being. Heavy sobs erupted from Luz between gasps of air as she desperately tried to get herself to stop. She hated that she was acting like this in front of Amity. “Luz… it’s ok. You can let it out. It’s okay to cry.” Amity started combing her fingers through Luz’s hair, moving her hat to the side. Amity was trying to do everything she could to help Luz. She wasn’t experienced in helping people, she was just acting on how she felt.

“I- I- no! I- sh-sh-ould-n’t-t” Luz barely got out. Her breathing quickened at an exponential rate. Amity slowly peeled Luz off of her, cupping her face in her hands softly. 

“Luz, of course you can. Listen to me, okay? Deep breaths, follow me.” Amity began to take deep breaths from her diaphragm. When she was really little she had to take singing lessons for a small role in a movie. She had learned this breathing technique from her teacher and hoped maybe it would help Luz. Amity made sure to make her breathing very audible so Luz could follow along. Eventually, Luz’s breathing slowed down again, matching Amity’s. The green haired actress was finally able to relieve a little of her concern, frightened by how long Luz may have been holding in all of that discomfort. Amity reached out a hand to Luz, looking to Luz to accept. Luz reluctantly intertwined her hand with Amity’s, clutching it like Amity was her lifeline. The pair continued walking.

(TW END)

“I’m sorry…” Luz whispered.

Amity squeezed Luz’s hand. “I don’t know what I have to do to make you believe that you don’t have anything to be sorry for.”

“I…. I don’t want to worry you… or bother you… or-” Luz started getting into her head again. She felt like there were a million reasons why she shouldn’t have gotten so worked up in front of Amity. Her head screamed at her that it was dumb of her to do that and that she embarrased herself and Amity probably thinks she’s weird or dramatic or a crybaby. Memories flooded into Luz’s mind, her breath hitching again. Amity noticed and squeezed Luz’s hand tighter.

“Hey, hey look at me. I know it doesn’t feel okay right now… I- I understand that I can’t do much to help you… and I don’t fully know what is causing this… but whatever it is, please know that you can talk to me. I won’t force you, Luz, you know that… but… it’s ok to reach out for help if you need it. It would worry me more to not know if you’re okay or not.” Amity said. “I’m… I'm sorry that might not have made sense, I don’t think I'm very good at this.”

Luz chuckled a little. Amity smiled softly at this, glad to get something out of Luz. “No… you’re doing fine… I’m- gah! There I go again… I mean that I want _you_ to know that it’s not your job to make me feel better… so don’t waste your energy on me. I’ll… i’ll be ok.” Luz forced a smile to try and prove it to Amity. She only frowned at the notion.

“Luz… you don’t have to smile. I care about you… of course I want to help you feel better.”

Luz’s face trembled, the corners of her mouth quivering. “But… smiling… will trick me into being happy… and I need to be ok… for the episode…” Luz said, her throat closing up between words. “God!” Luz exclaimed, frustrated. “How do I become so undone in front of you Amity??” Luz said, holding a desperate smile on her face while wiping away some tears threatening to pour again from her eyes. Amity cupped Luz’s face again, looking at her with soft eyes but a serious voice.

“If i’m the one person you can come undone in front of and let all of this out, then I’ll be it for you Luz. You are the most important thing to me right now and I just want you to relieve yourself. You can’t hold it in forever.” Amity wiped a tear away with her thumb. Instead of an awkward silence, the two shared a peaceful moment of care and understanding. Luz finally allowed herself to accept Amity’s help. They stood there for a little bit. Just enjoying the moment. Luz finally let go of her breath. Amity was relieved to see it. Finally, calming down, the two finished their journey to the shooting site. At the end of the path stood a portion of the crew, Dana, and the others.

Ed and Em looked to Amity to make sure everything was okay, noticing Luz’s red eyes and puffy face. Amity nodded to them to show them she was able to handle it, albeit not completely figure out what was exactly causing it though. She looked to Luz. The girl was hanging her head, frightened to show everyone her face. Frightened to ruin the set for everyone. Amity looked around at the snow. She had an idea. Bending down, she pick up a pile of snow and crunched it in her hands into a ball, tossing it at Luz.

“Snowball fight!!” Ed and Em screamed, immediately grabbing snow from the ground and tackling each other and other crew members who caved and joined in on the fun. Dana stood in the middle of the chaos, laughing before getting hit with a snowball in the face by Ed. Everyone went silent, holding their breaths to see Dana’s reaction. The snow fell off of her face and onto the floor with a thud. Dana inhaled sharply, everyone waiting in suspense.

“GET OVER HERE BLIGHT BOY” She yelled, grabbing an armful of snow and chasing after Ed who was screaming in terror down the path. The rest of the crew started howling in laughter. Amity checked on Luz again to see her smiling wide, this time genuinely, and laughing so hard tears came out, the good kind. Amity ceased laughing for a second to enjoy the view. She smiled to herself as she watched Luz play with Eda and Steven, chasing them with snow, having a good time. Amity thanked whatever deities she didn’t believe in to have given her the words necessary to help Luz. She made a note to herself to talk to Camilia when they were done filming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Let me know what you think :D On a scale from spikey bat to garbage disposal, how much do you hate Bec? ;)


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Big trigger warning for this chapter near the end, it's only a few sentences but it's heavier than the last time. Please take it seriously. Other than that, I hope you enjoy the chapter :D

After finishing Adventures In the Elements, and winning probably too many snowball fights, Luz got a ride home with Amity over the weekend. Their week long trip had come to an end and they were to check out of their hotel. It was the afternoon of Sunday, the crew had spent their last day, Saturday, having fun up in the snowy hills and relaxing. Everyone thanked Dana for the nice break where they could prepare themselves for the next episode to be aired the following week, The First Day. On their way home, Luz repeatedly thanked Amity for helping her previously. Amity kept telling Luz she didn’t need to thank her, that she wanted to help her and she was glad she could do something to make Luz feel better.

“Whoa!” Luz said, looking through her social media pages. “Have you seen the reactions from I Was A Teenage Abomination?”

“No, read em to me.” Amity said as she drove and focused on the road.

“‘Not sure how I feel about Amity, seemed kind of like a bitch.’” Luz read. Amity laughed.

“Well looks like I accomplished my goal. Dana wanted the viewers to hate me at first. Luckily I go through a lot of development in the first season.”

“Yeah! Here’s another one… ‘Amity Blight is a killer actress! She might be my new favorite Blight sibling actor!’”

“Well that’s flattering. I’m glad people think I’m good.”

“Because you _are_ good Am! Although it wasn’t cool to compare you to your siblings. You’re all great!”

Amity laughed. “Thank you Luz.”

“Of course! Another, ‘Amity seems like the type of character to have some sort of tragic backstory, that green hair is a statement, can’t wait to see more of her!’”

Amity smiled. Luz continued to read some more. The audience had mixed feelings. A lot of people were annoyed with her obsessive behavior over the top student badge. Others saw it as relatable for over achievers and theorized on possible reasons for her character’s fixation on it. Once Luz had read them, the car fell silent again.

“Hey… Luz?” Amity said, looking over to Luz. She played with a piece of her hair while keeping one hand on the steering wheel. She realized the green color was fading a little bit and that she would have to redye it.

“Yeah Am?” Luz noticed the faded green between Amity’s fingers as the girl threaded her hand through her hair. “Is this about your hair? I can help you re-dye it!” Luz said excitedly. 

Amity flushed and laughed a little. “No… I wanted to know if I could come over? It’s ok if I can’t, I know it’s late notice.”

“Oh!” Luz thought for a moment. “Um… may I ask why?”

“I just wanted to hang out with you… we haven’t done that in a while. I’ve never been inside your house.”

“I could say the same to you.” Luz said teasingly. 

Amity blushed in embarrassment. _I probably seemed so invasive right now. Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything. Ed and Em said this would be a good idea, why would I ever listen to them-_

“Amity?” Luz said softly, cutting through the noise.

“Y-yeah? You know what, it’s ok, I don’t need to come over…”

“Hey hey, no! I want to hang out with you!!” Luz said, grabbing Amity’s hand which only startled the actress. Amity accidentally pulled the steering wheel, giving the two girls a scare when the car swerved. Thankfully no one else was on the road they were on. Luz immediately pulled her hand back upon realizing her sudden action. Luz felt her face heat up. “S-sorry…”

“I-it’s okay! Sure… wanna… watch a movie or something?”

“I would love to.” Luz said shyly. _What is wrong with me?_ Luz questioned. She turned away from Amity, a new awkward silence filling the space between them. Not the bad kind though. The kind where both want to say something and keep the conversation going but don’t know what to say or do.

Eventually they got to Luz’s house. Amity parked the car and turned the ignition off. The girls silently got out and walked to the front door. Amity awkwardly looked at Luz, trying to predict what she’d see on the other side. Luz took note of the fact Camilia wasn’t home yet and she didn’t know Amity was with Luz alone at home. Luz unlocked the door and pushed it open, bringing Amity inside.

“Whoa. It’s so… homey.” Amity said. She looked around at the cute baby pictures of Luz along with the various paintings on the wall that looked like they were done by a kindergarten Luz. She looked at one in particular, noticing two stick figures, one with badly drawn curly brown hair. Amity assumed that was probably Bec. She was surprised Luz still had it up, maybe she forgot or didn’t realize it was Bec? Speaking of, Amity remembered she needed to have a talk with Luz’s mom when she could. 

“Yep, I’ve lived here all my life. Just me and my mom.” Amity smiled at Luz. She was glad Luz was happy. “Oh! Come look at my room!” Luz grabbed Amity’s hand and dragged her to her room. “Ta-da!”

Amity stepped inside, looking around at the warm painted walls and the dresser to the side that was spilling with clothes. A closet was halfway open on the side closest to her, Amity could see the purple fishnets on the floor. She immediately picked them and put them on a hook.

“Don’t let this get forgotten in your closet, they looked good on you.” She said. “Er… well I meant that they… remind me of the escape room! And how much fun we had! Haha yeahhh.” Amity quickly closed the closet and sat on the bed, nervously patting her legs. Luz giggled.

“They remind me of the escape room too.” Luz went to sit on the bed as well. She crossed her legs and leaned towards Amity. “You’re probably gonna have to get it re colored AND cut”

“... what?”

“Your hair!” Luz exclaimed. She repositioned herself so she was behind Amity. Luz started combing through Amity’s locks, feeling the underside and letting her fingers graze the grown out undercut. “Your undercut is getting longer too.”

Poor Amity. Poor poor Amity. She didn’t know what to say and was pretty sure if she did all that would come out was a mess of words. She squeaked when she felt Luz start to do something with her hair. “Gah! W-what are you doing?”

“Braiding it! You look so pretty, I wish I had fun hair like yours.”

Amity could have sworn she was about to start steaming from how hot her face was and how much she was sweating. _I hope she can’t tell_ Amity thought, panicking in her head.

“Whoa, are you okay? Is it too hot in here? Want me to turn up the AC?” Luz asked, putting her face next to Amity’s to look at her. Amity jerked away.

“Hot?? What’s hot?? Not you haha, I mean you’re not _not_ hot I was talking temperature wise, I know i’m not hot, TEMPERATURE WISE, um, are you?”

Luz blinked. She tried to make sense of what Amity just said. “Um… I’m not hot, no. Do you wanna choose a movie?” Luz said, getting up from the bed. She assumed Amity felt uncomfortable with her being so close. Luz gestured to the living room with the TV and their array of movies to choose from. Amity got up and followed close behind.

Luz pulled out a bin of dvds. “You have them all on dvd?” Amity asked.

“Yeah! My mom and I have netflix but we like to reminisce. There’s just something nostalgic about it.” Luz said, grabbing one of the dvds. “Ooo Lion King! A classic!”

“... Lion King?” Amity asked. “What’s it about?”

Luz stared at her in disbelief. “Am- Amity…. You’ve never seen The Lion King…?”

Amity was confused. “Um… no i don’t think so?”

Luz shoved the DVD in her TV and grabbed Amity, making her sit on the couch with her. “Unbelievable. Then you’re seeing it right now, you uncultured-”

“I’m sorry, i’m sorry!” Amity said, laughing at Luz’s face. “I didn’t grow up on Disney”

“YOU DIDN’T WHAT?? Ok that’s it, we’re having a Disney movie marathon. I must educate you. You poor child.”

  
  
  


A movie and a half later, plus some crying over The Lion King, Luz had fallen asleep on Amity’s shoulder. _How does this end up happening every time_ thought Amity. She looked down at the sleeping girls face and then out the window to the darkness of the night. _Well she did have a long day today. Not to mention her recent insomnia._ Amity let out a breath. At least she was sleeping.

A click could be heard from the front door. Amity looked over to see Camilia walking in, immediately seeing her daughter unconscious on Amity’s shoulder. Amity panicked.

“Ms. Noceda! Um… she kind of fell asleep and I didn’t want to disturb her and-”

Camilia was silent. She just walked over to Luz and picked her up gently so that Amity could escape and get up. Then, setting Luz back on the couch, she grabbed a blanket and covered Luz up. Camilia held a finger to her mouth to show Amity to be quiet and then gestured for her to follow her. The two silently walked away, leaving Luz to sleep.

“Thank you. Amity, I think it is?” Camilia said once they were away.

“Um.. yes! How- how did you know?”

“Luz talks about you a lot. She really enjoys your company. So thank you for putting up with my crazy daughter.”

“Oh it’s no problem, I love- I mean- _enjoy_ her company too!” Amity was sweating again. Here she was, in front of her crush’s mom, tripping over her words.

Camilia laughed. “Now, you should get home. Don’t want to worry your parents.”

Amity smiled. “Actually… if you wouldn’t mind, may I ask you about something?”

“Of course.”

Amity looked down and twiddled her thumbs. “Um… what is Bec to Luz?”

Camilia hesitated at the mention of Bec’s name. She stared at Amity. The girl was only looking at her defiantly and determined to figure out what was going on. Camilia sighed. She could tell Amity held no ill will towards either Luz or Bec. She simply wanted to get clued in on Luz’s strange behavior since Bec came back into her life. 

“Bec and Luz were childhood friends. Luz was only in kindergarten and some kids were bullying her. Bec stepped in to help her. At first, I was grateful to Bec for helping my daughter. But as they grew up… Bec created a dependence on herself for Luz. She would fend off bullies for her and keep her away from other people. They were young and naive and Bec only wanted to protect her from their mean peers. I didn’t think much of it. Until middle school at least.”

Amity listened intently. She held onto every word. Camilia closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She continued.

“Something happened to Bec and she started to change. Her obsession with Luz became… violent and destructive. She criticized Luz and her choices and made them for her. She would say she was doing what was best for Luz. I watched Luz get stuck in a constant cycle of arguing with Bec, apologizing to appease her, and then pretending like everything was okay. The longer it went on, the more Luz lost sleep. The more trouble she was dragged into. It was… awful… the- the threats and the blackmailing got worse and worse… Bec even… sent her a horrific photo… ”

“Of… what? It’s okay if you don’t want to say. I can tell this is hard for you.” Asked Amity.

\-------------------------(TW // Self harm, implied blood)-----------------

A single tear ran down Camilia’s cheek. “It-it was a photo of her arm… she had used… that… as a means to threaten Luz. That Luz need only hang out with her… or she’d... hurt herself more.”

\----------------------------(TW END)---------------

“That’s horrible!” Amity was white hot mad. “Luz is the kindest, most considerate person i’ve ever seen! That sounds like a whole lot of bullshit!” Amity caught herself. “I- sorry sorry, I was just… mad… I don’t mean to invalidate or undermine your feelings or the story-”

“Amity it’s okay, I understand. I was livid too.”

“So… what did you do?”

“I tried to talk to Luz and tell her to stop hanging out with her. I tried to explain it to her. Luz was too young to understand and middle school is a confusing time. She was easily molded by Bec and my words couldn’t get through to her. I cost my relationship with her if I forced her to stop hanging out with Bec. But I took the chance. I later found out Bec was sneaking Luz out of the house late at night. It just kept getting worse and I felt like I couldn’t do anything.”

“Did you talk to Bec’s parents?”

“I couldn’t. Her parents… they aren’t the kind of people you want to deal with. Nothing you say would get through to them either. Stubborn folk they were. Aggressive and scary. I only met her mom once by accident when Bec and Luz got into some trouble at school. I don’t think I should go into it. Point is, in the end, Bec and her family moved away, allowing Luz to be free of Bec. The initial loss of her was hard on Luz. That dependence she had built up, it came crashing down on her. I had to take her out of school. The only thing that made her happy was acting. I tried to nurture that and spent more time with her, trying to get her back. When you met her she was almost back to normal.”

“And then… Bec came back…” Amity said, finally understanding.

“Well… “ Camilia started, smiling at Amity. “First you showed up… and you made Luz so happy. I had never seen her so overjoyed over someone other than Bec since middle school. She has you and Willow and Gus and all these people I never thought Luz would have… so thank you. Thank you so much Amity.”

“I…” Amity wanted to cry. She never thought all of this would happen to Luz. “Don’t thank me, Ms. Noceda. I will do whatever I can to help your daughter. She deserves to be happy and have so many friends.”

Camilia smiled at the passion in Amity’s voice and the dedication in her face. She could tell Amity really cared for Luz. Camilia hoped that if she herself couldn’t get through to Luz, that Amity could.

  
  
  
  
  


By the next week they were filming The First Day. Luz had been getting better sleep now that she was hanging out with Amity more. Her stress seemed to go down and she was having an easier time acting and focusing. Amity was able to relax a little more as well and was happy to spend time with Luz. Bec was busy modeling and seemed to be preoccupied with other things which only helped the two grow closer and closer. 

Edric and Emira accompanied Amity to the studio in the middle of the week. They both needed to have a meeting with Dana about something, they wouldn’t tell Amity what for. The three Blights walked in, wearing their masks and sunglasses to hide themselves. Walking through the building to the set where Amity was supposed to shoot her small scene, the three ran into Luz talking to some other actors. One of which caught Emira’s eye.

“Hi Luz!” Amity exclaimed. She greeted Amity with a hug.

“Hey grocery girl.” Luz said with a wink.

“Are you gonna keep calling me that forever?”

“Until you tell me to stop or that you hate it. Do you hate it? I’ll stop if you do, promise.”

Amity chuckled. “It’s cute.”

Edric rolled his eyes at the two of them. He looked over to Emira, hoping to share a teasing glance so they could bother Amity later over this. However, he was not met with Emira’s eyes. Instead, the golden orbs were locked on an actress standing next to Luz. Emira seemed to be shocked and frightened. The girl met Emira’s eyes, immediately sharing the same fear in her own.

“Oh! Do you two know each other?” Luz asked upon noticing the weird eye contact the two were making.

“No!’ They both shouted frantically. The room fell silent, only increasing their anxiety.

“Okay? Um… this is Viney! She’s gonna appear in this episode!” Said Luz, pulling the brown haired girl next to her.

Emira scratched her head and bit her lip. Turning to look at Ed, she grabbed his hand and ran away. Over her shoulder she yelled, “Whoops! Sorry! Gotta go! Nice to meet you!”

“Emira!” Amity shouted. She sighed and looked back at Viney. “I apologize for my sister, usually she’s so suave. I wonder what’s wrong with her. I should probably check up on her. See you later Luz! Nice to meet you Viney.”

Amity ran after Emira. She tried to figure out where the twins ran off to. Turning a corner she heard quiet sobbing coming from a room. Stopping in her tracks, Amity turned to the door.

“Emira?” She said, lightly tapping on the door.

(TW // Mention of panic attack)

Edric unlocked and opened the door. There sat Emira, in a ball, holding herself and panicking. Amity ran to her sister, holding her hand and trying to do anything she could to help or comfort her. The scene took her back to Luz’s panic attack on the snowy path. Edric sat beside Emira too and rubbed small circles on her back.

“Whenever you’re ready sis… you are welcome to tell us or not tell us. Either way, we’re here for you.” Edric said. 

Amity got Em a cup of water to hopefully regulate her breathing and also get some more fluid into her so she didn’t throw up or pass out. After a while, Emira had finally gotten settled. Dried tears on her cheeks, her face red, her eyes wide and scared.

(TW END)

“Th-thank you…” Emira whispered through shaky breaths. “This is… probably a good time to let you guys know um… that Viney and I are dating.”

Edric and Amity gasped. Edric suddenly shared that look of fear. Amity was confused.

“Why… why do you two look so…” Amity couldn’t even finish. She didn’t have a word for the look on their faces.

Edric looked to Emira. She wasn’t in any condition to explain this to Amity. Edric took it upon himself to do so with a nod of approval from Em.

“Amity… when it comes to our personal lives… there’s a reason mom and dad want us to stay hidden and un-noticeable in public.” Ed paused to check on Emira. She was holding her head in her hands and trying to take deep breaths. “The press… has a nasty habit of butting their heads where they’re not supposed to. When it comes to relationships in particular… well they go crazy over that. Because they know their fans will go even more crazy over it.”

Amity understood now. She realized why Emira is so frightened by seeing Viney there. “So… that’s why you kept Viney a secret from us?” Amity asked Emira. She nodded her head.

“Amity you understand the weight our names hold. You know how many people look up to us and idolize us. When people… get like that… they tend to believe they should have a say in our choices. They start… picking and choosing who we should and shouldn’t get together with.... I saw it happen with one of my other friends. They weren’t able to be happy in a relationship if it was out for the public to know… suddenly your relationship becomes the center of attention. People are making videos about when and where you’ll kiss or who’s a top and who's a bottom. It just… it gets so uncomfortable and so invasive… I never want that to happen with me and Viney. We’ve been doing so good… I- I think I love her Am… I don’t know what I'd do if it were ruined by the media…” Emira vented through choked breaths and quiet tears.

“Is that why you two are meeting with Dana today?”

“Partly… yes.” Edric said. “Emira is talking to her about how much interaction Viney and Emira will have on screen as to limit the attention on them. I, myself, am just discussing my acting with Dana.”

“I see… What are you going to do Em? If people _do_ start to catch on?”

“I- I have no idea…”

  
  
  
  


Amity walked back to set with this weighing in her mind. What if her feelings for Luz went that far… is it noticeable on screen? What if the fans start to ship them? What if Luz feels uncomfortable with that? What would it mean for their friendship? Amity had so many questions and so many worries she didn’t notice Luz standing right in front of her. She walked right into the latina.

“Whoa! Amity, you okay?” Luz held out a hand to help Amity up. Amity wanted to reach out and take it but her mind was still stuck on what Emira had explained. She got up herself and looked away from Luz.

“I’m okay… what about you?”

“I’m good! I wanted to talk to you actually.”

“O-oh! You did?”

“Yeah, I just talked to Dana and she told me to tell you that she sent us a video from the choreographer on our Grom dance. I was thinking we could practice together this weekend since we only have like a month to memorize it. What do you say?”

Even with all of the worries in Amity’s mind… how could she say no?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not me projecting my toxic friend into Bec, couldn't be, no way
> 
> On a happier note... GROM CHAPTER IS NEXT!! ;) See y'all Monday hehehe
> 
> Make sure to follow my Instagram to get updates on when I post or extra art for the fic ;)


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grom dance practice ;) (Art on my instagram @keysstylus)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here, take this fluffy Lumity chapter where I spewed soft adorable tender loving idiot wlw vibes. It was a lot of fun to write. I hope you enjoy ;)

_This is a horrible idea_

Amity slowly got out of her car, her limbs feeling heavy. She had debated whether she should have cancelled on Luz or not but then she realized it was inevitable. She would have to dance with Luz eventually. It wasn’t like she could not dance with Luz, it was literally in the script. Dana had added it in strangely once her team had finalized season 1b. Amity questioned Dana choices. Was she _trying_ to make Amity lose it?

Sighing, Amity began to walk to the dance studio Luz wanted to meet up at. Apparently they would have private lessons through the week after filming and lessons together on Fridays. The rest was up to Amity and Luz to figure out, Dana had said. Amity shuffled with her bag. She hadn’t used this old thing in ages but hey, if she’s dancing again, why not take it out for another go. She passed by a shop. Just a normal every day boutique, nothing to stare at. But Amity did, because it wasn’t what was inside that caught her eye. She stared at her reflection in the store window. Her plain black shorts with a white stripe down the sides and a simple black crop top with mesh on the top displayed themselves in the window. But Amity wasn’t focused on her outfit either. She realized how red her face already was and the obvious tension in her shoulders. She hadn’t even started to dance with Luz and she was already going crazy.

Amity looked behind her, giving a longing look at her car. “No…” She whispered to herself. “That’d be unfair to Luz…” 

She kept walking, clutching the handles of her bag. _It’s only for a few hours_ She told herself. Was she already sweating? It wasn’t even February yet! It isn’t even that hot outside. Was it Amity? Oh god it was Amity. The girl squeezed her eyes shut and face palmed herself, trying to make the thoughts go away. She didn’t pay attention to what was in front of her. She knocked into a person standing in front of a different shop. For some reason Amity’s brain immediately thought it’d be Luz and her fight or flight response activated. She just ran past, shielding her face yelling, “Sorry! My bad!”

Finally, she made it to the dance studio. Amity tried to catch her breath from her unplanned jog. She thought of it as a warm up to dance. Although, the crazy butterflies in her stomach should be plenty a warm up for what is about to come. Amity took a deep breath, grabbing the handle of the door and stepping inside. She looked to her phone to see the room that her and Luz would have together to dance in. Just the _word_ dance in the same sentence as Luz’s name made Amity hold her phone to her face, which was quickly heating up again.

“GAHH!” Amity cried in frustration. She took a deep breath. _It’s fine, i’m cool, i’m completely calm_ Amity tried to reason with herself.

“Um… Amity?”

“EEK” Amity shouted, startled by Luz’s sudden appearance in front of her. How did she get to the room? Did her legs move on their own while she was freaking out?

“Are you okay? I heard you screaming outside the room and pulled you in and you didn’t seem to realize what was happening. Are you feeling under the weather? We can cancel-”

“NO! No! No, I mean, I’m fine!” Amity sputtered. Oh this was gonna be a nightmare. How was she supposed to focus?

“Okay! Good! I can’t wait to dance with you! I used to do hip hop in middle school y’know?” Luz started doing some break dancing. Showing off her dancing experience. Amity clenched her jaw so she wouldn’t gape in awe. Luz’s loose muscle tee moved with her as she danced. Her legging covered legs flying in the air. Once Luz was finished she looked at Amity. “Pretty good if I do say so myself.”

Amity chuckled. “Definitely. I used to do ballet when I was little, before acting. I got too busy but I practice every once in a while.”

“You must be hella flexible.” Luz said. Amity blushed, going into some splits.

“Probably why the choreographer has me do splits in our dance huh?” Amity’s brain short circuited when she realized she had said “our dance”

Luz giggled. “ _Our_ dance is pretty cool! Although it has so much in it, like, it’s not just a simple waltz.”

Amity got back up out of her splits, wiping her legs off from the dusty dance room floor. “Do you want it to be a waltz?”

Luz rubbed the back of her neck. “Haha, no, I don’t actually know how to waltz. I just think it’d be easier than what we’re doing for the show. Do you know how to waltz?”

“Yeah, I learned a little bit outside of ballet for one character I had to play.”

Luz squealed and shook her hands in excitement. Her eyes seemed to gleam as she looked to Amity. “Can you teach me??”

Amity flushed. “I-I- well… wait! We’re supposed to be practicing the Grom dance??”

“Yeah yeahhhh” Luz said, waving her hands around. “What about _after_ we practice the Grom dance?” Luz clasped her hands together and stared at Amity with puppy dog eyes. She quivered her lower lip and tried to look as dramatically cute and innocent as possible. Amity sighed and gave in.

“Fine.” Amity said. Luz squealed and went to give Amity a big hug, crushing her between her arms. “AGH! Geez Luz! Are you working out or something??”

“Whoops, sorry!” Luz let go of her. “And yes! I am! I have to literally throw you for this dance Amity, I _need_ to work out.” Luz flexed her arms, they were definitely looking more defined. Amity turned away in embarrassment.

“Let’s just do the Grom dance already!” Amity screamed, walking away to the center of the room. She took a wide stance, rested her hands on her knees, and looked at herself in the huge mirror. She went through the moves in her head, thinking about the hours she had practiced throughout the week, both with a teacher and without in her room. Taking a deep breath she looked over to Luz who was setting up the music given to them by Dana. Luz ran back over to join Amity on her left. 

Amity stood up straight and held out her right hand. “Ready?” Luz nodded as the music started up, taking Amity’s hand with her own left. Amity’s stomach churned as she felt the warmth of Luz’s hand in her own. Electric adrenaline coursed through her from the touch. Luz, likewise, was smirking, her eyes soft and crinkled. She was so excited. Her heart skipped a beat at the touch of Amity and she felt like she could do the whole dance in 2 seconds.

The piano of the song started. The two had spent the last week listening to it on repeat. They both loved the melodies and how the beats synced perfectly as if it were a suave tango. The steps matching to the sound. Back to the music. A low hum could be heard, cueing Amity to pull Luz close. Hands wrapped around her waist as she did the same with hers. Her heart beat faster and faster, trying to reach for any amount of courage to get through this dance. She wondered if Luz was as nervous as she was. As the piano hit the starting note, the two looked towards the mirror and pushed out their intertwined hands.

The fun melody of the song moved with them. It was faint but loud enough to let each of the girls keep track of the beats. _5, 6, 7, 8, 1, 2…_ They each counted in their heads as they jumped forward together. Letting go of their inner hands, Luz swung Amity around with her left. She watched in the mirror as Amity circled around her, Luz swiftly lifting her in the air and off her feet. Amity twirled around, trying to relax herself for the next part of the dance.

Luz set her down in rhythm with the song. Still holding her hand, forever staying connected, the two spun around. Luz watched as Amity plunged into the splits, letting Luz guide her through the corkscrew motion she had tried to practice on her own. It was much harder to do without another person there for support. She had tried to practice with Ed and Em but they either ended up teasing her or were too tall for her to comfortably perfect the dance move. However, with Luz, it came naturally.

Once Amity was back up right and the two were side by side again, they kicked out their feet. Using the momentum to spin one last time they came together and clasped their hands. For the real scene they would be dancing on a moving platform that would act as the huge Abomination monster so it would definitely be more tricky. They would also have safety wires attached to them under their Grom clothes so the final dance would be much different and more technical than this. But for now, the two just enjoyed the music and enjoyed each other. Luz was smiling ear to ear, just having fun. Amity did the same, finally loosening up.

They spun each other around, letting go of one hand to let Luz pretend to hold up her plant glyph cards. Instead, Luz held up a peace sign and winked at Amity which nearly made Amity go off beat. Amity chuckled and pulled Luz towards her, catching her waist with her left hand and dipping her. Everything seemed to freeze as her and Luz looked at each other, panting slightly as they were already out of breath and sweating. Luz trusted Amity completely to not let her fall as she let her weight allow her to reach down to the ground, pretending to attach her glyphs to the Abomination. Amity pulled her back up and the two held each other as they jumped back.

The music suddenly changed paced. A steady thump of music notes crescendoing and building up the tension. The camera wouldn’t be on the two girls at this moment. Only the Abomination blowing Grometheus up. This was their opportunity to do possibly the hardest stunt in the dance. Luz placed one hand on Amity’s waist and one under her legs. With as much force as she could, she threw Amity up into the air. Amity’s stomach turned as she felt like she was flying. She tried to make it as graceful as she could but couldn’t help her panic as she looked down and fell to Luz who had her arms outstretched. Luz was supposed to catch her, bridal style, and spin her around to complete the dance. This was the only moment in the whole sequence where the two were not connected by touch. It was also possibly the scariest part of the dance. Luz looked up to Amity with a determined face, carefully watching her figure come down. Amity reached for Luz’s shoulders, preparing herself.

_THUD!_

“Oh god oh god oh god Amity!! Are you okay??? I’m so sorry!!”

Amity had hit the ground. Hard. She had been in Luz’s arms at one point, but the Latina wasn’t strong enough on the first try to keep her up. Luckily she was able to break Amity’s fall a bit so she wasn’t permanently injured. Amity rubbed her back. She had fallen flat on the floor, her head hadn’t hit so she was grateful she didn’t have a concussion. Definitely some bruises though.

“I’m okay, i’m okay.” Amity said, taking Luz’s hand who was trying to help her get back on her feet. Luz pulled Amity up quickly, making her a little dizzy. She stumbled and fell forward a little bit but was caught quickly by Luz.

“Caught you that time, didn’t I?” Luz joked. Amity laughed, straightening herself up and looking around for bruises. “Are you hurt? Do you need a break?” Luz asked, worriedly.

“I assure you, Luz, i’ll be fine. Why don’t we just practice the throwing part? Make sure we get that down?”

Luz nodded in determination. She vowed to herself that she would catch Amity and she wouldn’t let her fall… little did she know Amity had already fallen. Hard. In a metaphorical way.

The two continued to practice and practice. Each time they ran through the choreography, the more and more they got used to dancing with each other. Eventually, most of the dance became muscle memory. The only part that still eluded them was the throw and catch at the end. Luz had now been able to catch Amity, but had a hard time spinning her around and getting her back on her feet. Luz’s legs would give out from the force or she just wouldn’t have enough momentum to swing Amity and keep her up. Every time though, when Luz did fail, she made sure to hug Amity closely as to use her body as a cushion if she were to fall. This, of course, made Amity fluster furiously every time she did it. The closeness of the two made her brain go crazy.

The two had been practicing for almost 2 hours straight and they were pretty worn out. It was already getting late and so they wondered if they should call it quits for today. It wasn’t like they needed to perfect it today. They still had three weeks. However, there was something in Luz that was upset with letting Amity fall every time. She looked over to the girl, seeing the multitude of bruises on her legs. There were probably more on her waist and back. A few on her arms and her elbows were dark and banged up. Luz took a swig of her water and threw it in her bag. She walked up to Amity and held out a hand.

“One last time.” Luz said. She was going to catch Amity and do it right this time. “Please?”

Amity looked at Luz’s hand. It was so tempting. What Amity hadn’t told Luz was that the bruises were starting to take their toll on her performance. The constant slam of her body to the ground every time was taxing and she wondered if she could take another round. But when she looked at Luz’s eyes she saw how fierce Luz was on this. Amity could tell that Luz wasn’t going to give up and that she was only going to work harder. Amity smiled and took Luz’s hand.

“One last time.” She said with a smile.

The two assumed their positions. Luz started the music. This, of course, was the easy part. Just a bit of spinning, hand holding, a dip, etc. Nothing too crazy. It would definitely be harder on the platform but they weren’t concerned with that now. On the dip, Amity felt her hand slip a little. Like she had thought, the countless mishaps had made her fatigued and tired. She used all her strength she had to keep Luz up. That moment changed for her. Instead of a calm and careful gaze on Luz’s face, she struggled and furrowed her eyebrows. Luz saw this and immediately nodded to Amity, signaling that she could move on to the last part. The hardest part. 

Luz’s thoughts ran wild. She had to do it this one last time. _I am going to catch her. I’m going to do it._ She thought as she was pulled up by Amity. Without hesitation, Luz picked Amity up and with a quick burst of energy, threw her up in the air. Time slowed down. Luz felt like she was moving in slow motion. She watched Amity slowly fall towards her. 

_I can do this. I can do this._ Luz said to herself. With the last bit of her strength for the day, she reached out to Amity and yelled, “I’ll catch you!”

No thud was heard.

The music finished. The two girls stood, side by side. Their outer arms extended out and their inner one’s intertwined. They stared at each other and panted, sweat rolling down their faces. Amity’s hair was messy and coming out of her ponytail. Luz’s was slick and damp. It took them a minute to register what had happened. All they could do was stay like that, staring at each other. Then it hit them.

“You… YOU DID IT LUZ!!!” Amity screamed in excitement. She immediately engulfed Luz in a hug, picked her up and twirling her around. The two laughed merrily. Bright shining smiles on their faces, their sweat flying everywhere. But they didn’t care. They were hooting and hollering and high fiving. “You caught me!!” Amity exclaimed, taking Luz’s hands and shaking them.

Luz laughed. “I- I did!!” She still couldn’t believe it. The happiness took over. She couldn’t stop smiling. Her cheeks were actually starting to hurt now. Once they were settled down, the fatigue hit both of them. Luz was shaky but still laughing. She looked like she did when she improved the drunk pirate at the escape room. Amity, without hesitation, wrapped Luz’s arm around her and walked her over to the wall to sit her down. She got Luz’s water bottle and made sure she drank some.

“I’m so proud of us.” She said. Luz stared at Amity’s smiling face. A warmth that wasn’t just the heat of her sweat coming to her face. Her stomach fluttered as she stared at those golden eyes crinkle. Amity’s smile lines coming out and her face shining in the most adorable way. Luz couldn’t help but admire it. The thought crept into her mind a bit. This time she didn’t push it away. She fumbled with the cap of her water bottle and put it away, laying back with a breath of relief.

“I’m proud of us too. We did good!” Luz said.

Amity got up and grabbed her bag. “You still up to learn the waltz?” She didn’t expect Luz to say yes since she looked so out of breath. But Luz jumped up right away, startling Amity.

“Of course!!”

Amity laughed and set her bag down again. She reached out a hand for Luz to take. The two stood by the window, allowing the golden light of the setting sun to illuminate them.

“We’re just gonna do a simple box step. Follow my lead, okay?”

“Got it.” Luz said.

Amity placed a hand on Luz’s waist. With her other hand, she guided Luz’s to her shoulder and then took her free one in her own. Now that they were set up, Amity slowly began to move her left foot forward. Luz got the gist and moved her right foot back. Then to the right. Back up. And to the left to their starting position. Everything was slow and steady. Silent and serene. The two could hear each other's breath. The focus of each on their steps together. Amity quietly started to count for them. “1… 2… 3, 1… 2… 3” She said in the rhythm of their steps.

After a few more tries she stopped counting and allowed Luz to go off of the feeling. This feeling was different than before. The two were so close. Both nervous but both so happy. It wasn’t the loud kind of happiness they had experienced after the Grom dance with wide beaming smiles and lots of laughter and crinkled eyes. This time it was a peaceful happiness. Soft smiles on each girls’ faces and the longing eyes they held for each other. Eventually, Amity broke away from Luz and asked if she wanted to try with music. Luz nodded. Their heart beats were slowing down from their Grom practice and their sweat was gone. They just stayed silent and listened to the new music Amity put on. It was slow and tantalizing. The melodies swooning and calming the two girls.

Amity guided Luz to start turning as they waltzed. Following the music. With some confidence, Amity spun Luz around a few times, earning a giggle from the latina. They could stay like that forever, dancing around the room. But the song came to an end and the sun’s light was dying down. As the music stopped with a low whole note, the girls came to their final position and slowly let go of each other, immediately missing the contact. They looked away, blushing.

“That was great, Amity. Thank you.” Luz said shyly. She ran a hand through her hair and turned to grab her bag. Amity doing the same.

“No problem, Luz. I had a wonderful time.” Amity said with a smile. “I’ll see you at the studio on Monday, okay?”

“Okay, see you there.” 

Amity walked out of the studio. She had gone in with whirlwinds going through her brain, but came out with a feeling of comfort and peaceful happiness. As she got into her car and started the car, Amity thought to herself that maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if she accepted this feeling she had about Luz. She put on some music and drove away.

As Luz exited the dance studio, she looked at her phone. On the screen was Amity’s contact. Luz smiled and hit the edit button. Scrolling through her emoji’s, she replaced the magic emoji she had had next to Amity’s name with a smiley face. Saving the edit and closing out of her phone, Luz clutched it to her chest.

_Ba dump, ba dump_

_How can I become so undone in front of Amity. Why do I feel so… happy? Am I allowed to feel this happy?_

Light tears came from her eyes as Luz lifted her chin, resting her head back. She felt so… good. She didn’t know she could feel happiness like this. She hoped it would last forever.

  
  
  
  
  
  


(Meanwhile)

  
  
  
  


Around the corner from the dance studio, a figure pulled out their phone. They quickly tapped in a number and sent a photo to them.

_???: [image sent] what do you think? Should I? Or later?_

The figure waited for a second, looking around, hoping not to run into either of the girls. They felt their phone vibrate, receiving a response from the number.

_???: Wait a week. LiL should come out first. Then do it._

The figure smiled to themselves. They saved the photo to their albums for safekeeping and stuffed the phone in the pocket of their hoodie. Putting their hood up, they took a backstreet to escape the scene.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you thought about the chapter in the comments ;) you can also dm me on my Instagram or Twitter at Keysstylus , I love to talk to y'all, you're so nice and I'm lonely T^T


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Plot A: fluffy Boschlow... Plot B: *evil laughter*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One trigger warning for this chapter! But Trigger Warning for the second half of this chapter in general for implied trauma and flashbacks and all the fun things that come with that

The next week the team was filming Understanding Willow. Willow made sure to text Boscha all about her plans to set up Amity and Luz. From giving Luz improv ideas to teasing Amity even more than usual about the episode and her regular dance practices with Luz, Willow was up to no good and she loved it. Although her character was asleep for most of the episode it was hilariously fun to hear her two best friends act together with the little seeds planted in their minds by her hand. She laughed evilly to herself as she watched Amity run at Luz, trying to get the bell from her. She had given the two this idea, knowing that Amity would love it.

“What are you laughing at weirdo?”

Willow turned around to see Boscha staring at her, giving her a smug grin. She held an iced coffee in her right hand and a chai latte in her left. Handing one of the drinks to Willow, she took a seat next to the girl. Willow sipped her drink and then looked to Boscha.

“Thank you for the drink, were you just feeling nice today or are you trying to get something from me?”

Boscha rolled her eyes. “I have the capability of being…  _ nice _ ” She pulled up a picture on her phone. “See! The succulent is still alive even now! I’m so good at this.” She said confidently.

Willow giggled. “Yeah you’re  _ really _ good at it” She said with sarcasm in her voice.

“I am!” Boscha whined.

Willow smiled. Amity was right. Boscha wasn’t so bad once you got to know her. So what if she had a hard tough bad bitch exterior? Willow had spent enough time with her to see that she had the capacity to love and care for things, as shown by that succulent miraculously still being alive. Willow looked away, feeling a little heat come to her cheeks as she thought about it. Giggling to herself, she thought  _ But how she acts on the outside has it’s perks too _

Willow was referring to all the funny situations they had gotten into because Boscha was so overly confident or forward. It was really amusing to Willow who tended to take a quieter backseat while Boscha jumped into a problem head first. It was usually Willow coming up with the clever and correct way to get her out. Willow glanced back over to Luz and Amity. They had seemed weirdly more awkward around each other than usual. She felt Boscha breath next to her, turning her head to be just inches away from the pink haired girl.

“You see that too?” Boscha asked.

Willow nodded. “The flower is beginning to bloom, I repeat, the flower is beginning to bloom.”

Boscha laughed. “Okay that is so you to make an analogy like that. Why can’t you just say they’re starting to realize they wanna kiss each other?”

Willow scoffed. “Cuz when you say it like that it sounds so oafish.”

“Woah I am  _ not _ oafish! I just like to be straight forward.”

“Mmhm, I like my analogy better.” Willow said, crossing her arms and turning her back to Boscha.

Boscha rubbed her neck. She felt a pang in her chest. “Well… I guess it was pretty cute…” Boscha whispered.

“What was that?” Willow asked, turning back towards Boscha, looking at her with big eyes.

“N-nothing! I said nothing!”  _ Did I say that out loud? _ Wondered Boscha. She huffed and looked over to the two girls on set. The pink haired actress pretended to gag. “Oh my god can they get anymore  _ gay _ ?? HEY! GET A ROO-” Boscha felt her mouth being covered and her face being pulled back. Her sentence being muffled by Willow.

“Shut up! They have to figure it out themselves!”

“Oh come on Willow, we’re just gonna wait around for centuries before the two dumbasses realize they like each other??” Boscha said, taking Willow’s hand off her mouth, blushing slightly at the touch.

“I never said we couldn’t give them a little shove” Willow said with a wink. She looked back over to Luz and Amity who were finishing up the scene at the beach where they’re escaping the fire monster. “Oh! This is my scene, I gotta go. Come with me to talk to Luz and Amity after i’m done and just follow my lead, okay?”

“Wait what? Uh… okay?” Boshca said nervously.

“Just trust me.” Willow yelled as she ran off to film her scene.

_ I trust you, you weirdo _ Boscha thought, playing with her hair and rubbing her neck. She groaned as she stuffed her hands in her pockets and finished drinking her drink. Throwing it in a nearby garbage can, she propped herself up on a ledge and watched her three friends act.

Her eyes widened as they fixated on Willow. The girl had so much talent. She was emerging from the lake and she looked so… scary. Or would “serious” be a better word. Whatever it was, it was sending the right messages to the room full of people and Boscha couldn’t get enough of it. She rested her head in her hands as she propped one leg up.  _ Damn _ she thought as she watched Willow utter the words, “Come take a trip down memory lane.”

Boscha shuddered.  _ Chills, holy shit _ Boscha couldn’t believe how well Willow was pulling this off. It might just be a perfect take. She laughed at Luz’s line as the wire attached to her waist pulled her away, allowing her to safely land on a foam mat. Dana yelled cut and congratulated the three of them on their performances. Next was Amity’s childhood bedroom scene which called for a change in set design. Meaning, they got a break. 

Boscha hopped off of her ledge and walked down to where the others were. As she approached she could hear Luz and Amity praising Willow for her acting, which made Boscha smile since Willow definitely deserved it. Even Boscha was on the edge of her seat, enraptured in the presence Willow emitted.

“That was crazy good Willow! I felt so awkward with my cheesy line, it felt like a totally different mood.” Luz said.

“Hey but that’s what we need at that moment! A little comedy relief never hurts, I almost broke character because of it!” Willow replied.

“You both did a phenomenal job. I was just worrying about my lines in the next scene.” Amity ran a hand through her hair.

“You’re gonna do great Blight, I know you, you overachiever.” Boscha said as she walked up to meet the group.

“Everyone is here! Perfect.” Willow exclaimed. Boscha reminded herself to just follow Willow's lead and trust her for whatever she had planned or was scheming. “Soooo, we all haven’t hung out in a hot second… so I thought we could get together this weekend to have some ice cream? Just a fun little thing, if you guys are busy I understand.”

“That sounds like a great idea Willow, I’m in!” Boscha said, smiling towards Willow. “I don’t care what you say Blight, I’m dragging you along with me.”

“Geez geez Boscha, I was gonna come anyways. Well… only if Luz is going.” Amity turned to Luz who now had all three girls’ eyes on her.

“Yeah! I’m sure I have time this weekend. Let me know Saturday or Sunday and what time.” Luz smiled at everyone and held up her phone, referencing the group chat. “Just not Sunday in the late afternoon, Amity and I have dance practice.”

Amity blushed. Boscha raised an eyebrow and glanced at Willow. “And how is that going for you two?”

“Great! Amity is such a great dancer! I mess up too much. I’m excited to perform our dance for real in our outfits!”

Boscha and Willow had to stifle laughs as they saw Amity’s reaction to Luz calling it “our dance”. Amity shook her head and tried to focus herself before saying anything.

“You’re a good dance partner, Luz, you always catch me now.”

Boscha choked back a giggle. “Didn’t catch you when you fell though huh?” Boscha said in reference to Amity falling head over heels for Luz. Amity and Luz only looked concerningly at Boscha.

“No, she catches me when I fall? That's like… what the catching part is all about.” Amity said.

Willow and Boscha mentally facepalmed themselves.  _ These oblivious useless queers _ They both thought. Willow cleared her throat to speak. “Anyways… great! Everyone is in, I'll send the info to the group chat. Looks like we’re back on to film though so let’s go!”

  
  
  
  
  
  


For the next few days, Willow and Boscha met up during filming hours to discuss their plan. They called it… Operation AmLuz.

“Wait wait wait, no, AmLuz sounds so bad. What’s a different ship name?” complained Boscha.

“I don’t know, i’m not good at this!” Willow replied.

“Edric is phenomenal at this though, remember Camileda? That rolls off the tongue.”

“Oh yeah, how is that?”

“I heard Eda and Camilia are finally going out. I think they want to tell Luz soon, although I wonder if Luz already knows.”

Boscha and Willow gave each other a look. “Yeah there’s no way she’d pick up on that if she can’t pick up on Amity’s feelings.” They both said. They laughed together, finding it funny how much they had underestimated Luz.

“Anyways, what’s a ship name that rolls off the tongue?” Willow asked.

“Hmm… think like Edric… think like Edric…”

“Please  _ don’t _ think like Ed, I think your brain would be filled with corny dad jokes and memes.”

“Hmm, Luz-am? Amiluz? Amiluz sounds good!” Boscha said.

“I guess… but it also sounds like ‘animal’ and they aren’t animals.”

“Well then I’ve got nothing.” Boscha threw her hands up in defeat. Willow kept thinking. Boscha looked over to Willow, blushing slightly at her adorable thinking face. The subtle scrunch of her nose, how her eyes crinkled, how she pursed her lips. Willow jumped up.

“I know!” Boscha quickly looked away, hoping Willow hadn’t caught her staring. “Lumity!  _ LU _ z and  _ aMITY _ ! Lu-mity!”

Boscha held up a high five. “Hell yeah girl!! That's it!” Willow quickly gave Boscha a high five and squealed.

“Lumity.” She said to herself. She looked over to find the two girls. They seemed to have separated. Willow spotted Luz checking her phone in a corner though. She giggled evilly. “Lumity.” She said again.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Luz was unaware of the set of eyes watching her from across the studio. She was too busy figuring out what to say to Bec.

_ Bec: I have some free time finally! Wanna hang out? _

Luz’s stomach turned. Could she turn her down? She would need a valid excuse.

_ Luz: I’m still at the studio, maybe another time. _

_ Bec: You should almost be at your lunch break though, right? We could get lunch! _

_ Luz: I’m not sure, i’m pretty busy _

_ Bec: Why does it feel like you don’t wanna hang out with me? :( We haven’t gotten lunch in forever! I miss you Luzzzzz _

Luz bit her lip. Would it hurt her so much to just go get lunch for an hour with Bec?

_ Luz: ok we can get lunch. Pick me up in 30 minutes? _

_ Bec: Yes! Knew you wouldn’t let your bff down! I’ll see you in 30 :D _

Luz closed her phone and sighed. Taking a few deep breaths and trying to think of happy things, she put away her phone and walked onto set. She glanced at Amity, the girl’s newly re dyed green hair shone in the light of the studio. It was gorgeous. Luz smiled to herself as she remembered helping Amity with that. She thought about how green her hands were afterwards and how much the two girls had laughed. Luz rubbed her cheeks to stop them from hurting since she was already smiling so wide. A fierce heat came to her face as she took a deep breath and glanced again at Amity.  _ I’m okay… everything will be okay.  _ She thought as she walked over to the actress to discuss their next scene together.

  
  
  
  
  
  


It was lunch time now. Meaning Bec was going to pick Luz up. Luz walked out of the studio, messing with her hair before looking around for Bec. She always waited for Luz in this corner of the street that was less crowded and more subtly hidden. Luz took a breath and looked back at the studio. Her mind wandered to Amity, her heart beating faster. Tension filled her chest as she remembered Amity was meeting with Dana about the Grom episode during the lunch break. Something about a piece of paper Amity would have for the episode. She turned back to the bustling street and saw the familiar brown hair with blonde streaks running through it like lightning. Bec waved at Luz wildly. Luz only nodded in return.

“Luz!” Bec said as she went to hug the latina. Her arms wrapped around her waist, lightly picking her up. “Gahhh I am  _ so _ glad we can hang out again! I have a super cool place to get lunch, come on!”

Bec grabbed Luz’s wrist and started to pull her deeper into the alleyway behind her. Luz struggled but got herself out of Bec’s grasp.

“Why are we going this way?” Luz questioned.

“Oh have some fun, it’s a shortcut! And don’t you have to be back to the studio quickly anyways?”

“Well… yeah, but-”

“But nothing, Luz, now come on or else it won’t be a  _ short _ cut anymore.” Bec grabbed Luz’s wrist again, this time Luz allowed her to drag her away. Luz bit her lip, definitely not liking the feeling she was getting from this. She looked to Bec who seemed perfectly fine and like she knew exactly what she was doing and where she was going.  _ Does she… usually use the alleyways to get places? _ Luz questioned jokingly to herself.

Bec let go of her wrist and looked to Luz. “It’s just around the corner! Go on!” She said, gesturing for Luz to peak around the corner. She heard the commotion of LA outside of the alleyway they were in. She walked over to the opening. Turning the corner she bumped into something black and soft and… cloth? Luz looked up to see the creep looking down at her with wide eyes. Luz had never been this close up. She looked at the pale skin of the creep, Luz remembered Jeremy was his name, and how his lips seemed to be dry and chapped. His eyes were tired and sunken in. His hood was up, covering what seemed to be a tangled mess of hair. Luz stumbled backwards.

“B-Bec! It’s him, it’s the creep! Come on, we gotta call the police-” Before Luz could finish, Jeremy had already grabbed her and tried to muffle her mouth.

“Hey!” Bec caught the creep’s attention. She ran up and tried to punch him. He let go of Luz and evaded the hit. He turned and quickly ran down the alleyway they had come out of.

“Hey! Get back here!” Luz yelled as she ran after him.

“Luz! Wait!” Bec ran after the two. She groaned as she glanced back at the restaurant she had wanted to take Luz to. Turning her head back around, she rounded a corner, the streets of LA no longer visible.

She ran around the asphalt streets of the alleyway, looking and searching for any sound of Luz or the creep but only finding gray concrete walls. She heard a yelp and immediately turned another corner, finding the creep wrestling with Luz all over the dirty ground. “What the-” Bec’s eyes widened as she saw the guy pin her down, a knee in her neck and one hand gripping the girl’s hair, pulling her head up. In his other hand, a sharp knife. Luz’s eye’s scanned over to Bec’s figure.

“Bec!” Luz strained to say, her air being cut off from the knee in her neck. Bec gritted her teeth and charged at the creep. Using her whole body, she slammed the guy to the ground. He groaned and dropped the knife. However, he was still awake and very much alive. Throwing Bec off of himself, he sprinted away, down another alley. Luz got up to chase after him but heard a cry of pain from Bec. Looking down, she saw red seep through the cloth of Bec’s shirt. She had fallen onto the knife. When Bec looked up, Luz saw a huge gash on her left cheek, probably from the body slam earlier. Luz looked to where the creep had run off to and cursed to herself.

“Come on, I think there’s a hospital around here.” Luz said, wrapping Bec’s arm around her and helping her up to her feet. She felt a warm liquid trickle onto her thigh as Bec leaned on Luz for support. Luz was worried that the wound was worse than it appeared to be and started to rush out of the alleyway with a sense of urgency. Her thoughts raced.  _ Bec saved me and now she’s hurt because of me. Stupid! _ Luz thought. She looked over to Bec, the red streak across her face was all she could focus on. Bec didn’t seem phased by this at all, only struggling a little bit to keep herself up but in regards to the very obvious wound on her face, she looked like she’d endured worse.

Finally, they exited the alleyway right to a hospital. Bec had helped guide Luz through the system and channels so they would be able to get there in time. As they stumbled to the front steps, the doors of the hospital were swung open by a woman in a white jacket and a medical badge on the front. She was tall and wore heels. Her dark hair was wavy and glossy, going down to her shoulder blades. She stood tall and emanated a certain level of poise and elegance. Her face was tired but her skin was smooth and soft looking. The woman scoffed and walked towards the two girls.

“Oh thank god, a doctor! Could you get my friend some help-” Luz started.

“I was just about to come home and check on you Rebecca.” The woman said. “Clearly you’re having another one of your outbursts.”

_ Outbursts?? She’s bleeding and wounded?? This woman is supposed to be a doctor?? _ Luz thought. Her eye’s strained and her brows furrowed. The woman walked up closer to the two girls, quickly taking Bec from Luz’s arms and standing her up right, not afraid to get her hands dirty. Bec winced at the stinging pain in her side, hunching over.

“Stand up straight.” The woman said. Bec rolled her eyes and straightened her back, her face contorting into pain. The woman raised a hand, causing Bec to flinch. The hand roughly grabbed her face and wiped some of the blood off to reveal the actual cut. The woman clicked her tongue. “Stupid girl.” She shook her head, nudging Bec’s face to the side to get a better look.

Luz just stood there, watching with confused and concerned eyes.

(TW // kind of creepy gore)

“This has got to be your worst game yet, Rebecca. Keep yourself out of trouble for  _ once _ in your life and maybe this wouldn’t happen. Honestly, what a waste.” The woman poked and prodded the gash. She pushed Bec’s cheek up into a smile. “You couldn’t be worth something for that brain of yours but when you have an opportunity with this pretty face you go and mess that up too. This might leave a scar, did you think about that??”

(TW END)

“It wasn’t her fault! She saved me!” Luz yelled, having had enough of this.

“Then she’s a fool to involve herself with your problems.” The woman said, letting go of Bec’s face and resting the bloodied hand to her side. She looked at it and sighed. “And I was about to go on my lunch break too, geez you even ruin that for me don’t you.”

“I don’t ruin anything for you, you’re just never satisfied!” Bec suddenly screamed. Luz noticed how she had been uncharacteristically quiet this whole time. Her pupils were small and her eyes were wide. Her jaw clenched as her shoulders tensed and rose to her ears. She clutched her side, hot tears threatening to fall from her eyes. She wouldn’t allow herself to cry though.

“This isn’t the best time to have this conversation m’am, Bec needs medical attention right now, aren’t you a doctor?” Luz asked worriedly as she looked at Bec’s weakening state, desperately trying to hold herself tall.

“I’m her mother, first and foremost.” The woman said in a cold tone, eyes piercing through Luz like icicles.

“ _ First and foremost _ comes your daughter’s health! Now get her something for that stab wound in her side! NOW!” Luz demanded. Bec’s mom stepped closer to Luz, now seemingly towering over her.

“Of course i’ll treat her. I’m just letting her learn the consequences of her actions.” Bec’s mom said with crossed arms.

“By letting her just bleed and stand in pain out in the open??” Luz asked. She couldn’t believe this woman who called herself Bec’s mom. “I don’t care if you’re a doctor, her mother, the president, or my ASS for all I care! I’m taking her to someone who’s  _ actually _ gonna help.”

Luz ran over and guided Bec inside the hospital. She was seething with anger and even Bec could see it. “ _ Puta _ ” Luz said under her breath as she walked away. “Enjoy your lunch break!” She yelled back. Bec laughed a little bit but quickly clutched herself in pain.

“Hey hey take it easy.” Luz whispered to her. Once people inside had seen Bec’s state, they immediately moved her to a room to get some help. Luz had to stay behind but made sure to stay close. She should be getting back to the studio any time now but she didn’t want to just leave Bec here. Especially not after that scene played out with her mom. So she sent a quick text to Dana and The Owl Kids group chat telling them what had happened. She laid her head back and sunk to the ground, resting her back to the wall. As she waited for whoever was inside helping Bec to come out and give her the okay to go in, Luz sat and thought about Bec’s mom. She had never really met the woman and, for a first impression, that was awful.

After a few minutes of waiting, a younger girl who looked to be an assistant of some kind told Luz it was okay to go in. She stepped into the room and glanced over to see Bec lying in a bed with her face patched up with bandages and her waist wrapped as well.

“Haha look, i’m a mummy” Bec said, chuckling before wincing again at her side and her cheek as she tried to smile.

“I don’t think smiling is gonna make this hurt less, Bec.” Luz said, sitting in a chair next to the bed. “Or should I say Rebecca? I never knew it was short for something!” Luz said, trying to lighten the mood a little.

“Don’t. Don’t call me that.” Bec said seriously. Her smile turning into a frown and her eyes glaring.

Luz dipped her head, immediately feeling guilty. She looked away and whispered a “sorry.” Bec’s face softened and groaned. She rolled her eyes and laid back in her bed.

“Okay don’t get all wussy on me Noceda, tell me about something you like. Lost in Language is supposed to come out this Saturday, right?”

“It is! It’s gonna look so good on tv! I’m excited for the viewers to see it!” Luz exclaimed, immediately brightening up at the mention of The Owl House.

“Wow, maybe I should talk about this more with you to get you to perk up like you just did. I think this episode is all i’ve heard from you in the past like weeks over text. It’s really gonna be that big of a thing for you and Amity’s characters?”

“Yep!” Luz continued to ramble on and on about how Amity and her acted during the scene and how much she geeked out about the development between their characters. Bec just listened and nodded. She had already heard this spiel from Luz a thousand times over text. The girl smiled softly to herself and crossed her arms, looking down at the hospital blankets. She could feel the abrasion in her side and the thick gauze on her face. Her ears tuned out as she got deep into her thoughts, her mind wandering to far corners of her brain.

Luz waved a hand in front of her face. “You… you okay?” She said.

“Y-yes! I’m great.” Bec said a little startled. She turned to Luz and gave a wide smile, closing her eyes.

“Don’t do that.”

“Do what?” Bec asked.

“That thing you do.”

“What thing?”

“When you force yourself to smile even though you’re upset. I can tell, Bec.”

Bec was silent for a second. Her heart clenched as she debated in her head. Huge iron bars seemed to stare back at her between Luz and her. She furrowed her brow. “You can… huh?”

“Yeah… listen… if you wanna talk about it that’s ok. You can tell me.”

_ Don’t. If you do you’ll ruin this.  _ Bec thought to herself. She gripped her arms and looked away. In a quieter and surprisingly meeker voice, she said, “I don’t want to talk about it.”

Luz sighed. “I won’t force you… but I want you to know that it’s not your fault. Your mom… wow, uh she’s-”

“A real piece of shit.” Bec said harshly. She gripped herself even tighter, the pressure of her arms against her side making her grit her teeth.  _ Everyone, everyones a piece of shit _ she thought to herself as she looked away. Her jaw clenched and pressure built up in her head. She was startled when she felt a soft hand reach out and touch her arm. She turned her head and looked at Luz’s worried eyes. Taking a deep breath she uncrossed her arms.  _ Except you… _ she thought to herself. “Sorry…” Bec said, looking up to meet Luz’s eyes.

“It’s ok.” Luz said, smiling softly at Bec. No other words were spoken but the tension seemed to lift from Bec’s head. She rested her head back.

“I’m tired.”

“You probably are. Why don’t you sleep and i’ll check up on you later.”

Bec frowned at the thought of being left alone. Especially in the hospital. “When will you come back?”

“Soon, I promise.” Luz said. “I’ll text you, okay?”

“Promise you’ll text me Luz.” Bec said, a little pleadingly.

“I promise.”

Luz exited the room, walking back to the studio hoping she’d still have time to film a little. Bec sat in the hospital room, staring at the door Luz had left from. She sighed and found her phone. Opening it up, she clicked on a number she hadn’t named yet despite knowing exactly who it was.

_ Bec: What happened to laying low, dickhead. _

_???: I was passing by the area, it was pure coincidence. _

_ Bec: Why the knife? _

_???: Do you happen to have that by the way? It was my dad’s, kinda special to me. _

_ Bec: Yeah and Luz is special to me yet you almost killed her asshole. Why should I give it back to you? _

_???: I was defending myself, she can hit really hard. I think she’s been working out. _

_ Bec: Whatever, just don’t try that shit again. I’m keeping the knife. _

_???: I’ll get it back somehow. I have my ways. _

_ Bec: To each their own. Anyways, let’s hold off on the plan for a bit. _

_???: Why? Something change? _

Bec looked up from her phone and to the door. She clenched her jaw but couldn’t help the warm smile on her face and the strange but nice feeling in her heart. Looking back down to her phone she typed out a message.

_ Bec: No, I just don’t feel like now’s the best time :P _

Bec closed her phone and set it to the side. She hugged her knees and laid her head on top. Looking around she felt the familiar fear of the white walls and the beeps of the medical devices. Shuddering, she took an uneasy breath and closed her eyes to see only black. A nice contrast to the white around her. She felt her throat closing up and her breathing start to quicken. Sweat started to form on her forehead. She took a shaky breath as she held herself, praying that Luz wouldn’t be gone for long.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Luz made sure to stop by the hospital every day until Sunday. Bec had lost a lot of blood and the knife she was stabbed with wasn’t clean and so the doctors wanted to keep her there a bit longer to make sure she was okay. But Luz noticed every time she would go see Bec, her mom would be talking to the staff looking after her. And every time Luz left she would hear that Bec would be kept at the hospital another day. Luz could only think about how Bec seemed to grow more and more disheveled the longer she stayed. Her hair would be messy, her eyes red and sunken in. She would seem more alert and jumpy at every little sound and movement. Luz almost thought she was going crazy.

“Did you watch Lost in Language?” Luz asked on her Sunday visit.

“No, not yet. The nurses wouldn’t let me use the tv.” Bec said solemnly.

“We can watch it together on my phone then!”

Bec smiled and scooted over for Luz to sit down next to her on the hospital bed. Luz took out her phone and held it up for Bec to see. “The episodes come out early on Disney NOW, I got free access from the crew on set!” Luz said excitedly.

“That’s awesome Luz.” Bec said as Luz hit play.

They were only about 7 minutes in before Luz’s phone suddenly changed screens, displaying Amity’s contact name. Bec froze when she saw the smiley face next to her name. Luz took the phone and got up out of the hospital bed.

“Oh, Amity is calling!” Luz said. “I’ll be right back, gotta take this.”

Bec’s voice caught in her throat. She wanted to say something, to ask Luz not to go. Her eyes darted around at the white walls as she reached out for Luz with a hand. She only watched as the girl closed the door behind her, raising the phone to her ear and saying, “Hi Amity!”

Once Luz was gone, Bec shook her head. She rubbed her temples and clutched her hair. Her chest felt heavy and she started to breath harder. Frantically, she looked around the room only seeing white.

_ White, white, white, white, white, white, white… _ She thought in her head.  _ Everything is so damn white _

She rubbed her eyes hard, trying to see different colors. She felt tears start to come to her eyes.  _ No no no no no no no _ She said in her head, her voice not coming out. She threw her head back, trying to get them to go back into her face. A single one was able to get through and suddenly they were all falling as well. Bec heaved and threw her head forward, knocking on her forehead with the palm of her hand.  _ Stop stop stop stop _

After what felt like an eternity Bec was able to stop crying. She desperately smiled, pushing up the corners of her mouth. Laughing a bit at herself. Her eyes were dry now and stung like hell. Her face sore from the tension she held in herself. She jumped when she heard the door open. Trying to compose herself, she watched the door open, her hearting beating harder. 

“Hey Bec.” Luz said as she came through the door. Bec sighed in relief, immediately feeling safer with Luz in the room. “Sorry, I have to go. I forgot Amity and I were gonna hang out with some other actors from The Owl House today.”

Bec frowned, that fear coming back again. “But, but you’ve only been here like a half an hour!” She said frantically.

“I know I know but I promised I would come. I’ll come back later today?”

“I think i’m getting discharged today.”

“Great! Then I'll text you, okay?”

“O-okay…” Bec said softly. She watched Luz leave again, a smile on her face and a peace sign in the air. Bec only waved. She pulled out her phone.

_ Bec: I changed my mind. Do it now. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Leave me a comment about anything! I love to read them! Art for this chapter is up on my Instagram at Keysstylus. You can see the other Actor AU art for the previous chapters by going to my highlights under "Actor AU Art". Have a wonderful day! Eat food, drink water, and take care of yourself <3


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Double date but make it both dumbass pairings don't realize it's a double date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy this nice mostly fluffy chapter! :D (Please read notes at the end)

Luz walked down the halls of the hospital. She looked around, seeing busy nurses running from room to room and hearing the distant beep of a heart monitor. The hospital was a big one and had plenty of patients to pay attention to. It felt like Luz cut through all that as she walked. Her hands were in her pockets, her shoulders scrunched a little. She never really liked hospitals, they seemed so lonely and creepy. She remembered seeing a thriller movie once where the actors did a phenomenal job of building tension in a hospital chase scene. The lights were flickering in that movie and the actors emanated fear and suspense. Luz wanted to get to that godly level of acting. She knew she would just work harder for it. She sighed as she descended the stairs to the first floor. What would happen after The Owl House? What would be her next gig? How would she get it? She had so many questions that suddenly popped into her head that she forgot what she was doing. As she exited the hospital, the atmosphere changed. The warm sunlight shone on her face as she looked up. Taking a deep breath, she looked around and spotted Amity’s car.

Amity’s driver side window was down, allowing Amity some air since her car was turned off. Luz walked up to it, making a silly face. “Hi Am!”

Amity giggled at Luz’s antics. “Hi Luz, come on, get in.” She said with a smile.

Luz walked over to the passenger side and slipped into the seat. The nice leather cushions and the fresh smell of the car making her feel a little calmer. She buckled in as Amity started the car. The sound of the ignition starting followed by a low hum caused Amity to grip the wheel and start backing out of her parking space. She looked at Luz.

“So… how is she?” Amity said nervously.

“Bec?” Luz asked to clarify. Amity nodded. “She’s doing better, she says she’s supposed to get discharged today.”

“That’s good to hear she’s feeling better. What did you say about her mom?”

“I think I told you over text that she’s crazy. But I think a better word to use would be overbearing and controlling. It’s interesting how different Bec is from her mother though… her mom is all serious and quiet and sophisticated and Bec is… well, the opposite.”

Amity looked back forward. She changed the car to drive and started to exit the parking lot, heading towards a plaza where they would meet up with Boscha and Willow. She thought for a second, her mind wandering to her own parents. “Maybe that’s why her mom is like that then, because Bec isn’t like her.”

“Yeah…” Luz said, sighing and looking out the window. “I’m worried about her. Bec, I mean. When I visited her in the hospital it looked like she was being tortured, not treated.”

“She could not like hospitals? They _can_ be strangely creepy in a way.” Amity said as she turned a corner.

“But I feel like since her mom is a doctor, she would have spent a lot of time there and gotten used to it. That’s another thing, her mom is a doctor but she was also completely okay letting Bec just stand with open wounds. That’s cruel.”

“Sounds bad.” Amity said. She thought in her head, connecting some dots. _So that’s why she probably hates hospitals_. She thought to herself. “Anyways, speaking of Bec, I wanted to talk to you about her.”

“Okay? What about her?”

Amity clenched the steering wheel. “Well… how does she make you feel?”

Luz rested her arm against the window, placing her head on her shoulder. She bit her lip. She wanted to say that she was happy and that Bec was a great friend. But she knew in her heart that it wasn’t that. She remembered what happened in middle school and she still holds queasy feelings whenever she’s with Bec. Of course she still cares for her, before all of that Bec made Luz the happiest kid ever. They would play together and have inside jokes and do things that made Luz happy. Bec always protected Luz too, and she was brave enough to stand up to people. Luz missed that Bec. The one from elementary school. What could have happened? She felt a hand tap her on the shoulder.

“You okay? You didn’t answer so i’m assuming it’s complicated…”

Luz looked down at her feet, rested at the bottom of the car. She felt Amity’s hand go back to the steering wheel and the shift of the car as it followed the curve of the road. “Yeah… it’s complicated.”

“Wanna talk about it? It’s ok if you don’t though, I won’t force you.”

Luz thought for a second. She looked up and over to see Amity’s serene face. Her golden eyes were focused on the road and her lips were relaxed. Her eyelids hung a little giving Amity a peaceful glow. Her hair flowed, mint green rivers from her head. Her little nose scrunched and wiggled subconsciously. Luz blushed. She sighed to herself and felt a release of tension in her chest. She could trust Amity.

“Well… first and foremost, she’s my friend and I care about her no matter what. The hard part is that… she did some stuff, in middle school, that didn’t sit right with me. Before she had been completely fine… but she said and did more and more things that would only get us in trouble and started making choices for me. I felt like I was trapped.”

“Do you still feel trapped?”

“At the beginning of filming The Owl House, I didn’t feel so trapped anymore. You and Willow and Gus and Boscha and Ed and Em, you all gave me so much to laugh about and to smile for. I hoped Bec had changed since I had seen her and so I let her in. I still want to believe she’ll go back to how she was when I first met her. But the more I spend time with her, the more I start to feel trapped again.” Luz crossed her arms and clutched herself. She looked out the window and chewed the inside of her cheek.

“Are there things that make you feel less trapped?”

“You guys. You guys, my friends make me feel better. Talking to you guys and stuff. I don’t know, I feel like it should be the same with Bec since she's my friend too.”

Amity came to a stop light. She looked over to Luz, frowning when she saw the girl scrunched up and holding herself. “Some friendships don’t work out… and that’s okay. You hold no obligation to Bec to feel like you guys are best friends. Things change, people change. You have to think of yourself.”

“Isn’t that selfish though?” Luz whispered.

“There’s a difference between being selfish at the cost of other people, and doing what is best for your mental and emotional wellbeing.”

“Well… then what do I do Amity? Do you know? It’s so… hard. I can’t just ghost her, she finds a way to come back. And it’s not like I want her to leave me alone completely, I still like her sometimes. But I can’t say ‘Only hang out with me when you’re nice’ because she can act how she wants to act.”

“Well, exactly.” Amity said as she pulled up to the parking lot of the plaza. “We can’t control what she does. She has to choose for herself. If she continuously comes after you though, let me talk to her. I’ll deal with her for you.”

Luz laughed. “You sound like you’re gonna murder her or something.”

Amity stopped the car and looked at Luz seriously. “Well I wouldn’t hesitate to do that.”

“Whoa Blight, don’t commit a crime for me.” Luz laughed now nervously, not sure if Amity was joking or not.

“No, I'm serious. How she makes you feel isn’t okay… that- that’s not healthy Luz. I just want you to know that.”

Luz clenched her jaw. In the back of her mind she knew that, however her heart didn’t want to accept it. “Let’s go find Boscha and Willow.” Luz said, getting out of the car.

  
  
  
  
  


“Geez where are they?” Asked Amity. She raised a hand to run through her hair as she huffed in frustration. “I’ve been texting both of them non stop, what is happening?” She said through her mask. Luz stared at her as she frantically looked around. She hadn’t been able to admire her outfit. She was wearing a black tube top with an elegant black blazer over the top. Always looking so professional and mature even for her age. On the bottom were some high waisted white shorts and she had some high top doc martens on. She looked to Luz and lowered her sunglasses a little. “Where do you think they’d go?” Luz quickly looked away, blushing a little.

“The bathroom to make out.” Luz said nonchalantly as she laughed.

“What?” Amity said, shooting Luz a surprised look to hear that coming out of her mouth.

“I can totally tell Willow likes Boscha. The question is does Boscha like her back.”

Amity thought for a second. “Mmm probably. Boscha gets all weird when it comes to her own emotions. She’s kind of blind to them.”

“So then we agree that they probably like each other?” Luz asked, nudging Amity. Amity winced and stepped back. “Oh s-sorry!”

Amity rubbed her arm, turning it over to look at the purplish bruise. “It’s ok, didn’t hurt that much.”

“Is that from dance practice? I’m sorry Amity, I’m trying really hard! Next time I promise I won’t let you fall even once!” Luz said triumphantly. Amity laughed.

“Thank you Luz. You’ve been doing really good so don’t worry about it. I can handle it.”

Luz frowned as the green haired girl turned around to look for Willow and Boscha. Luz stared at the bruise. A guilty feeling in her gut grew as she tried to stay positive. Without thinking, she lightly took Amity’s arm.

Amity squeaked. “Uhhh Luz? What are you-”

Luz lightly kissed the bruise. Amity felt like she was just shot out a rocket. Her face was burning up and she knew that it looked as red as a tomato. Stumbling over her words she took her arm away and covered her face from Luz’s view, incredibly embarrassed and hoping no stranger around them saw that.

“My mom always kissed my injuries better and I thought it was nice. Think of it as a promise. I promise to always catch you when you fall.” Luz said determinedly. Amity opened her eyes and looked around. No one was staring. She looked back to Luz, the latina’s face smiling a little and reaching out a hand for Amity to take. Amity chuckled and intertwined their hands as they walked away to find Willow and Boscha.

  
(SHOUTOUT TO Reefwriting FOR THE BRUISES IDEA!!)  
  
  
  
  


A few texts later and some wandering around, Boscha and Willow finally found the two girls. Boscha was wearing a rock band t-shirt that was tucked into some high waisted checkered pants. Her neck had a few pieces of silver jewelry and her shoes looked brand new. They were black and pink sneakers. Willow wore a black hat with a wide brim. Some brown sunglasses sat on top, giving her a chic look. She was wearing a cute beige halter top with a forest green flannel hanging loosely off her shoulders. She had on high waisted ripped black shorts and some cute black ankle boots to finish the look. Boscha nudged Willow a bit and the two gave each other a nod. Operation Lumity is underway.

“Hey guys!” Willow said as she walked up to Amity and Luz. “So we were thinking we should play a game.”

“Oooo a game? Do say more.” Luz said, putting up some finger guns.

“Want me to explain?” Boscha asked. Willow nodded. “So the game goes like this, we pair up and then split up. One person has to describe what their partner would like as a gift and the other person tries to find something to buy. Simple.”

Willow laughed. “Boscha I'm sorry but you explained it horribly. I give you an A for effort though.”

“Well geez, why did you have me explain then?”

“I believe in you, that's all.” Willow said, causing Boscha to blush and look away. “So Amity and I will be a team and Boscha and Luz will be the other team. Amity you have to describe what gift Luz would want and Luz you have to describe what gift Amity would want. Boscha and I have to go buy it. And then vice versa.”

“Ohhh okay that made sense.” Amity and Luz said.

“Oh come on, I said the same thing though!” Boscha complained.

“Not really, you didn’t say that the two teams are getting gifts for each other.” Willow said.

“Okay but it’s like basically the same!” Willow looked at Boscha. Boscha took the hint. “Well I mean I guess it’s not…” Boscha said. Willow nodded. If it were the way Boscha explained it, Amity would be getting a gift for Willow, not Luz. That wasn’t in their plan.

“Okay, let’s get this game going! Split up!” Willow exclaimed, grabbing Amity’s hand and pulling her in one direction. Boscha swung an arm around Luz’s shoulder and guided her in the opposite direction.

Boscha giggled as she looked over her shoulder, seeing a winking Willow giving her a thumbs up.

“Sooo… you and Willow huh?” Luz said with a smirk. Boscha took her hand off of Luz’s shoulder.

“Whoa whoa that weirdo?” She scoffed. “Yeah no way in hell.”

“Mmmhmm, yeah, righttt.” Luz said with a mischievous smile. Boscha’s eye twitched.

“I should be saying you and Amity! You gay-”

“Come on Boschaaaa, accept it, accept that you wanna kiss her.”

Boscha was starting to sweat. “Wha- no, no, no YOU! _You_ accept that you wanna kiss Amity!”

“Ahh I see, avoiding it are we? Trying to diverge the conversation?” Luz said smugly.

Boscha yelled in frustration. She rubbed her temples. _Why am I dealing with this? Wasn’t it supposed to be I get Luz to talk about her feelings for Amity? Not me talking about my feelings for- wait no, no no, damn it Luz_ Boscha thought to herself. She felt Luz tap her on the shoulder. The latina gave a mischievous giggled and whispered to Boscha, “I’ll keep it a secret, don’t worry.” Luz winked and walked away, leaving Boscha with her mouth hanging open.

Once Boscha had come to terms with what happened, she felt her face heat up out of embarrassment. “You… you little-! Come here you!” Boscha started to chase Luz through the streets of the plaza, whipping past strangers who gave them concerned glances. Somehow Luz was able to run faster even with her shorter legs. Boscha was soon out of breath. She stopped by a small bakery and leaned against the wall to catch her breath. Luz waltzed in with a smug grin on her face. She stuck out her tongue teasingly and Boschow lunged for her but Luz evaded quickly, leaving Boscha on the floor.

Luz laughed. “Okay, okay, that’s enough. Let’s figure out what we’re gonna get Willow and Amity.” Luz reached out a hand to help Boscha up. Boscha scoffed and begrudgingly took it.

“Fine, whatever.” The pink haired girl crossed her arms and looked at Luz. “So, what do you wanna get for Amity? What do you think she’d like?”

Luz put a finger to her chin and gave it a long and hard thought. She chewed the inside of her cheek and looked around. A bakery was a good place to start. “Amity loves sweet things. Maybe we can find her a dessert here?”

“I agree, she does like sweet things… but isn’t that kind of a temporary gift to get her food?”

“You’re right… I think she’d like it though. Are we allowed to get people more than one gift?” Luz asked.

Boscha rolled her eyes. Of course the oblivious lovesick dweeb wants to get Amity two gifts. That’s so Luz. “Willow didn’t say anything against it so I don’t see why not. Just know we’re kind of on a budget here.”

“Don’t worry, I think I have the perfect idea.” Luz looked through the bakery’s display window, pressing her hands against the glass even though there was a sign saying PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH THE GLASS. Luz pointed at one of the desserts and nodded to Boscha to have her take a look.

Boscha laughed a little, amazed at their luck. “That is so dumb it might just be perfect.”

Luz smiled and waved towards a worker behind the counter. The worker grunted when she saw Luz was pressing her hand against the glass but perked up when she realized it was Luz. 

“O-oh! Luz Noceda?? I’m loving The Owl House so far! I relate to your character so much, by the way is A-”

“Ooookay okay, sorry m’am but Luz and I have to get going soon. We’ll take one of these in a to go bag.” Boscha interrupted. She placed some money on the counter and swung an arm around Luz’s shoulder to guide her out.

“Oh my god, you’re Boscha! Wow I scored today… can I get your guys’ autographs?” The girl asked, pulling out a small pad of paper.

“Sure!” Luz said with a smile. She couldn’t believe it, her first autograph. People liked her acting! Luz beamed as she wrote a quiz signature. When she was younger, her mom and her tried to figure her autograph out together. It started as a bunch of scribbles but over time cleaned up a lot and now looked really professional. The real deal. Luz gave the paper to Boscha who quickly scratched out her name. She did it so quick! She was probably used to signing things. Boscha was relatively well known. Not as much as Amity but definitely more than Luz or Willow.

The fan squealed. “Thank you so much! I hope you enjoy your dessert! Have a good day, you just made mine.”

Luz smiled as she walked out with Boscha. She was happy to have made someone’s day. Boscha rolled her eyes and chuckled a little. “You’re gonna have to get used to that.” Boscha said. “With you as our main character, you’re gonna have all the guys, gals, and non binary pals all over you.”

“Pshhh nooo” Luz said, blushing a little at the thought. “Okay! I have one more place I wanna go to to get Amity’s other gift, but what do _you_ wanna get Willow?”

Boscha bit her lip. Willow and her had already agreed to just get something cheap for each other and to not think about it too much. The focus was on Luz and Amity. Boscha’s chest clenched as she thought about it. She wanted to do something nice for Willow. She always worked so hard and Boscha couldn’t believe how underrated as an actress she was. Boscha genuinely held respect for the girl. What could she possibly get her to convey that?

“Thinking about how much you like Willow?” Luz said with a smirk. She wiggled her eyebrows and looked Boscha in the eyes. Boscha scoffed and crossed her arms, that warm feeling coming to her face again.

“Pft, no! I just- y’know… I don’t know what she’d like.” Boscha admitted. “I- I know what kind of person she is… I think… but how do I translate that into something physical??”

“Boscha you’re overthinking this. Does she have any hobbies or interests you know about?”

Boscha rubbed the back of her neck. “Well… she told me once that she’d never been to an amusement park before. I could… get her tickets. Y’know, for her and her dads, she loves them. I think she’d like that.”

Luz raised her eyebrows. _Wow, surprisingly soft caring Boscha._ She thought to herself. “I’m sure she would love that Bosch.”

“Did you just call me Bosch? Seriously?”

“What are we not on that level of friendship yet?”

“Level of- blegh I think i’m gonna puke.” Boscha faked throwing up. Luz laughed.

“Okay okay, I won’t call you that. What I was saying was I’m sure she’d love to go with her dads… but maybe she’d like it even more if you went with her?”

“I-I well wait- no, I couldn’t- this- well- no I don’t think- argh!” Boscha exclaimed, putting a hand to her forehead in frustration. In a softer voice she whispered, “do you… do you think she’d really wanna hang out with me on her first trip to an amusement park?”

“I am positive. If i’m wrong you are welcome to punch me in the face.”

“Good, cause I probably would if this ended up going to shit.” Boscha threatened.

“Well on the other had, if you hurt me Amity did admit she would commit murder for me sooo”

“SHE WHAT?”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


“Did you hear something?” Amity asked Willow, tapping her on the shoulder.

“No, why?”

“I don’t know. Do you think Luz is okay? Boscha can be kinda hard to deal with sometimes… I hope she’s okay.”

“Am, you’re rambling again.” Willow said with a soft smile.

“Right right… sorry.” Amity said nervously, playing around with her blazer. “Do you think this was too flashy? I feel like people have been looking at me more than usual today. I wanted to dress nice for today… maybe I went too over the top.”

“Amity you look fine, not come on, help me pick out a gift for Luz and Boscha.”

Amity sighed and looked around. A few people walking by were staring at her and whispering to each other. Amity turned to Willow. They were crouched down and looking at different keychains.

“What do you think Luz would like?” Willow asked Amity.

“Well… she talks about these Minecraft youtubers a lot. Dream? George? SapNap? She has like a whole list of them but those three are the ones she talks about the most.”

“Maybe we could get her a keychain with them on it!” Willow pointed at one with the art of a boy with a mask on. Next to him was a brown haired boy with sunglasses and also a black haired boy with a white piece of cloth wrapped around his forehead. 

“Oh! This is perfect! I think this is fanart because the videos she sent me of them were cube shaped avatars.” Amity said, taking the keychain in her hand and looking it over. “I think she’d like it nonetheless.”

“Awesome, that’s one gift done. I think I wanna get Boscha a joke gift and then a real gift, y’know? I like to mess with her.”

“You play a dangerous game when you do that Park. But you’re welcome to step into the sleeping bears den.”

“What’s with the metaphors? I mean, she’s not _horrible_ , she can be really nice and funny.” Willow said, blushing to herself.

“Oop, is that a blush I see?” Amity teased.

“Okay so maybe it is, so what?” Willow said softly. “How do I even know if she likes me back?”

“You never know unless you try.” Amity said, taking Willow’s hand and squeezing it.

“You should be taking your own advice, Blight. I see the way you interact with Luz.” Willow said, giving it to Amity straight. Surprisingly, Amity didn’t back down.

“Yeah…” She played with her hair a little bit. “I don’t know… do you think I should do it now? Or after Wing It Like Witches? I just don’t want things to be awkward between us.”

“I’m sure they wouldn’t even if she didn’t like you back. But I highly doubt that’s the case. I say go for it sooner than later. Also, what do you think of these two?”

Amity looked at the keychains Willow had picked out. She giggled a little. “These are perfect. Let’s pick up some ice cream for them and then we’ll go meet up and exchange gifts.”

“Sounds good!”

Willow and Amity walked over to an ice cream shop after trying to text Boscha and Luz. The two were terrible at answering their phones. Without a confirmation ona flavor, it was up to Willow and Amity to decide for them. Amity ended up getting chocolate for Luz and Willow got cotton candy for Boscha. Amity questioned Willow’s choice but decided to roll with it, excited to see Boscha’s reaction.

She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket and whipped it out. Luz had finally texted back.

_Luz: Hey! Sorry I didn’t see this earlier, I was getting your gift ;)_

Amity smiled to herself, wanting to know what Luz got her.

_Amity: I’m excited to see! We’re gonna meet back up at the middle of the plaza so meet us there when you can.We bring ice cream, got you chocolate._

_Luz: Chocolate is always a good choice, thanks :)_

_Amity: No problem :)_

“Uh ohhh, is someone falling again?” Willow clasped her hands, looking at Amity blushing at her phone. “Need Luz to catch you while you fall?” Willow teased. Amity rolled her eyes and huffed, finishing her text to Luz. Her phone vibrated again. Amity was excited to see it from Luz, but instead got a text notification from Edric.

_Ed: Can you come back home? Mom and dad wanna talk with us. Em is upset so i’m texting you._

_Amity: Sure, about what?_

_Ed: Did you see the news?_

Ed sent a link. Amity furrowed her brows. If it was anything related to the media, it was probably bad. She hesitated to open it. Taking a deep breath, she clicked the link.

YOUNGEST BLIGHT SPOTTED DANCING WITH THE OWL HOUSE CO-STAR

Amity’s eyes widened as she read the title of the article. She stopped walking, dead in her tracks. Her fear grew as she scrolled down. Her heart dropped to her stomach when she saw two photos. One was of Luz catching Amity from their first practice together. In the photo, Amity and Luz were smiling and Amity’s arms were almost wrapped around Luz’s neck while Luz was carrying Amity bridal style. The second picture showed Amity and Luz waltzing from their first practice too. Amity chose not to read the article. She didn’t want to know what kinds of things the press was saying about those photos. Who took them? It seemed like they were taken from the window of their dance room. Amity frantically looked around. She ducked her head, trying not to be seen. The mint green hair did her no justice though. She looked to Willow who was looking back at her with a concerned face.

“Everything alright Am? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“H-hey Willow? I have to go, can I borrow your hat please?” She said in a quiet voice.

Willow handed Amity the hat. “Sure, but why do you have to leave?”

Amity showed Willow the article. Willow’s jaw dropped. She gave Amity a concerned look and immediately tried to shield Amity from the view of anybody passing by. The plaza wasn’t super busy today so thankfully nobody was around to give them trouble. Willow lightly took Amity’s hand.

“You should go see your family.” Willow saw the anxiety in Amity’s eyes. “Hey, are you gonna be okay?”

“I don’t know… but i’m sure my family and I will sort it out.” Amity replied.

Willow nodded and hugged Amity. Amity pushed the ice cream and her gift into Willows hands. “Can you please give that to Luz? Tell her i’m sorry for leaving early…”

“Of course, Am. Text us when you can, okay? We wanna make sure you’re okay.”

“I will, don’t worry.”

Amity ducked her head and started running back to the parking lot. Her skin crawled as she was painfully more aware of the people around her. She finally go tinto her car and started the ignition quickly and drove off. At the first stoplight she saw a notification on her phone. New emails and texts from all different kinds of people. They were all asking about the photos. If they were for a The Owl House episode and if not, if her and Luz were in a relationship. Asking about how that affected their acting, just a lot of why. Amity powered down her phone so she wouldn’t have to look at it. Trying to clear her head, she watched the light turn green and drove home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, shoutout to Reefwriting for the idea for kissing bruises ;) They're Instagram is reefartandwriting !! Go check them out and follow! They deserve it! They're almost to 100 followers!
> 
> ///PLEASE READ///
> 
> ALSO I will be taking a small break until Wednesday, so the next chapter will be up on Wednesday and there will be no update on Monday. Please let me know in the comments or dm me on Instagram or twitter at keysstylus if you want the special Boschlow amusement park date one shot chapter/ story to be in this fic or as a separate work? Thanks! Let me know what you thought about the chapter too and any theories you have ;) Or if you wanna scream about Bec more, that's chill too, makes me laugh.
> 
> NEW: If you make fanart for the fic I would love to see it! Please tag me in the photo and use the hashtags #theowlhouseactorau and #keystohactorau ! I will be doing the same so people can easily find the art!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed! I'll see you on Wednesday ;D (follow me on Instagram for updates while you wait, I post fun stuff to my story like "Talk to the Actor AU characters" or just do polls in general. At 1k I'm planning on doing a live stream where I draw and answer questions and talk about the fic or just vibe with y'all :D


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aftermath and gift giving

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sort of a shorter chapter than usual, barely 3.5k works. I hope you enjoy!

Willow walked back to the middle of the plaza. She had texted Boscha about the situation and explained why Amity left early. She wondered if Boscha had already told Luz or if she kept it from her so they could talk about it together. Willow kept walking, seeing the fountain symbolizing the center of the plaza. There were a few people spread around but they all seemed older and wouldn’t care about a Disney kids show. Willow sighed and looked around, fumbling with her flannel and balancing the gifts and ice cream in her arms. She spotted Boscha from across the plaza center and immediately walked over. Boscha whispered something to Luz and met Willow halfway. Luz looked at the both of them confused and decided to sit on a bench near the fountain while she waited.

“Hey Willow.” Boscha said nervously. “What do you think?”

“Well, it’ll be interesting to see Luz’s reaction since she’s relatively new to the press.” Willow said, rubbing her neck. Truely, she didn’t know how Luz was going to take this.

“She’s had experience with the press... Y’know… that one guy who stalked Eda? Are they still having problems with him?”

“Yeah, that’s another thing. Amity told me Luz and Bec had run into him and it caused Bec to get stabbed or something.”

“Oh geez, do you think she'd have to tell the police about that?”

“Obviously she is. So, what’s our game plan? She’s gonna ask where Amity is anyways and she’ll probably see the article or get asked about it sometime today. I say we just show her it.”

“Sounds good… I hope this doesn’t cause a rift between them. They’re doing so good, our plan was working” Boscha said.

“Yeah, I even got Amity to admit she wanted to confess soon! But with this… well, that sounds like it’ll be delayed.”

Boscha groaned. “Seriously, these two need to realize they like each other and just go out already.” Willow looked at Boscha. She wanted to facepalm herself. Boscha was wondering why she seemed to be glaring at her. They both looked over to Luz who was staring at them. She looked like she was trying to figure out what they were saying. Willow gestured for her to come over. Luz got up out of her seat, hiding her gift for Amity behind her back.

“Hey Willow! Where’s Amity? I can’t wait to give her my gift!” Luz said with a concerned face.

“She…” Willow shot a glance to Boscha who nodded. “She had to leave early. Something came up.”

“What?” Luz said, getting even more worried. Willow opened up her phone and gave it to Luz. On the screen was the original article with the two pictures of the girls. Under the photos was captioned  _ Submitted by Anonymous Reader _ . Luz cursed, assuming it was the same person who gave the press the photo of her and Eda. Which means it was Jeremy, the creep. Luz reminded herself that later she would have to talk to the police about that.

On the side of the website, Luz saw the related articles. All of the thumbnails were of her and Amity. Some of the titles read  _ THE OWL HOUSE CO-STARS TOGETHER?  _ Or  _ AMITY BLIGHT LGBT?  _ Or even  _ NEW SHIP IN THE OWL HOUSE COMMUNITY _ . All seemed to start with some sort of variation of,

_ With the recent airing of Lost in Language, The Owl House fans have been noticing a potential bond between two of the show’s favorite actors. Luz Noceda and Amity Blight who play the characters that share the same name. Fans of the show, which range from tweens to young adults, have been theorizing an enemies to lovers storyline for the two. The similarities to the popular Japanese show Little Witch Academia has only brought in more of an audience. Everyone is wondering, will Lumity become canon? Recently, images have been submitted by an anonymous source that seem to support this new ship. The Owl House co-stars (Noceda right, Blight left) were spotted dancing together at XXX in the east part of LA. Now fans wonder if the two actresses have a deeper relationship past the cameras… _

Luz’s jaw clenched as she saw that some focused primarily on Amity.

_ The Blight family has always been mysterious. Controversy has only gotten higher for the Blight name as they make little to no interaction or appearances in public and rarely hold fan encounters on their social media. Alador and Odalia Blight seem to have a good grip on their media presence, how will they react to their youngest daughter, Amity Blight, being seen outside of their confines? The young actress, 16, seemed to be dancing and waltzing with her co-star Luz Noceda, the main character of their shared Disney show The Owl House which premiered almost two months ago. Fans speculate if this was practice for an upcoming scene or if the two girls were having fun. Either way, is there a possibility of LGBT representation in The Owl House? Even more, could Amity Blight be queer? Sources tell us she had never been seen with a guy other than her brother Edric Blight, although she hasn’t been seen with many people outside her family before at all. _

There were even articles about Luz being some kind of break out star.

_ Luz Noceda made a smashing debut with her leading role in The Owl House last month, surprising everyone with her talents in the challenging field. Not much had been known about her before The Owl House which begs us to wonder, how could she land such a prominent role with no previous known experience on screen? Not even background roles. This month it was another surprise for fans to see her dancing with Amity Blight! Her co-star but also a much bigger name in the community. Could she have persuaded the Blight family to allow her onto The Owl House through their connections to the Disney production team? By sweeping their youngest daughter off her feet? A lot of speculation has arisen about the new actresses sexuality as well. Luz Noceda is definitely making a statement “coming out” and into the acting world with this much vigor. We want to know more! _

“This is all such bullshit!” Luz said, clenched her fist as she gave the phone back to Willow.

“I feel ya. I’m sorry you’re having to deal with this so early. Don’t let the press tell you if you’re a good or bad actor okay Luz?” Willow said kindly.

“I could care less if they think i’m a bad actor, i’m more worried about how Amity is handling this. Have you talked to Ed and Em? What is she doing right now?” Luz worried. Her face contorted into a state of anxiety and fear.

“She told me her parents wanted to talk to Ed, Em, and her. I’m sure it’s about the article. Of course her parents would see it first. They’re probably getting emails like crazy about how they feel about this.”

“I should have never asked to practice with Amity. This would have never happened.”

“Oh don’t start with that Luz.” Boscha cut in. “You and Amity had so much fun at those practices right? That’s what matters, you had no control over people butting their heads into it.”

“Yeah, but-” Luz started.

“But what?? What were you supposed to do Luz? Practice at your house? You made the right choice to get that dance room for you two. From the texts I received from Amity you guys practically perfected it in one day.”

Luz stayed quiet, now looking at her feet. Boscha sighed, realizing she may have been a little harsh. Willow placed a hand on Luz’s shoulder. “It’s not your fault Luz. It’s not your fault. You guys will work this out. I know you will. You guys just have to communicate a little and figure out how you guys will address it.”

Luz nodded solemnly. She took out her phone and tried to call Amity. Hoping to start that line of communication right now. She heard it go straight to voicemail. Amity’s more professional voice came to the ear of Luz who was frowning. She tried to call again and again but it always went straight to voicemail. “I think her phone is turned off.” Luz said as she looked at Willow and Boscha.

“That’s weird. Maybe she turned it off when she started to drive?” Willow questioned.

“I can go check on her for you guys if you want? I can get into her house.” Boscha said.

“Like… break in?” Both Willow and Luz asked.

“Pshhhh nooooo” Boscha said, rolling her eyes and laughing nervously. “Okay so maybe yes.”

“Take me with you! I wanna make sure she’s okay too.” Luz said, walking up to Boscha.

“I think it’d be better if we didn’t give people more of a reason to ask questions about you two. I’m sorry but we have to figure this out with you guys separated. The press will die down and that’ll be your opportunity to address it while everyone isn’t jumping out of their seats with theories.” Boscha said, holding up a hand to stop Luz.

“Okay…” Luz said sadly. She took out the gifts for Amity. “Can you give these to her? I just want her to know that I care about her and hope she’s doing okay.”

Boscha smiled and nodded. She took the gifts from Luz. Luz nudged Boscha and gestured to Willow. “Speaking of gift giving?” Luz winked. Boscha felt a heat rush to her face as she almost dropped Luz’s presents.

“I- I no, not now!” Boscha sputtered, looking over to Willow.

“Yes now!” Luz pushed Boscha over to Willow who looked like she was enjoying the comedy show.

“Um… hi” Boscha said nervously.

“Hi.” Willow laughed. “We exchange gifts?” Boscha nodded. Willow pulled out a card and handed it to Boscha. “Well? Open it!”

Boscha hesitantly took the card. She looked at the front of it. There were sharks swimming in some water with scared people on top. “Wow… thanks?”

“Read the rest dummy.” Willow said, rolling her eyes.

Boscha opened the card and on the inside was a cute picture of a puppy next to a gift box. Taped to the inside of the card was a bracelet. It was thick and black with little spikes around it. Boscha’s eyes widened. “This is so sick Willow!! Thank you!” Boscha put the bracelet on and immediately hugged Willow who blushed profusely when the pink haired girl swept her off her feet, literally. Boscha realized what she was doing and gently set Willow down. “S-sorry about that… I got excited.”

“It’s no problem.” Willow said, laughing nervously. “What’d you get me.”

Boscha fumbled with her phone. “So… I know… you, like, have never been to an amusement park. That’s really stupid, I feel like everyone has had to go to one at some point in their life like how lame of you, you nerd!” Boscha scratched her head. “So… I thought you could go with me…?” Boscha turned the phone to Willow displaying the two purchased online tickets she had gotten. It was Willow’s turn to go wide eyed. She smiled softly.

“I would love to.” She said as she hugged Boscha, much more gently and she was too short to pick her up off her feet.

“Psh it’s no big deal.” Boscha scoffed, looking away, trying to hide the huge grin on her face and the scarlet tint on her cheeks.

“By the way, here’s your guys’ ice cream.” Willow said, handing the other two girls their ice cream.

“Amity didn’t forget I was lactose intolerant, right? That’s like… how we met.” Luz said, eyeing her ice cream, suspiciously.

“Don’t worry, she got dairy free for you.” Willow said.

“Oh thank god!” Luz started to scarf down her ice cream while waving to Boscha, who was walking back to her car so she could go to Amity’s house.

“Do you wanna know what Amity got you Luz?” Willow asked, laughing slightly at the smudges of chocolate ice cream on Luz’s lips and cheeks.

“Hnrgh?” Luz said, her mouth full. Willow handed Luz a small paper bag with something metal and rattling inside. Luz swallowed and cleaned off her fingers before taking the gift. She reached in the bag and pulled out 3 key chains. One was blue, one was green, and one was orange. There was fan art of her favorite minecraft youtubers on each of the respective colors, GeorgeNotFound, Dream, and SapNap. “Oh my god!” Luz exclaimed as she examined the keychains. “Geez how much did this cost??”

“Not anything Amity can’t afford.” Willow said.

“I need to tell her thank you and that I love it.” Luz took the keychains and attached them to a belt loop in her balck jeans. “There, this way I won’t forget!”

Willow smiled and laughed with Luz. After a little bit and some finished ice cream, the two went home together since Luz had come with Amity.

  
  
  
  
  
  


Meanwhile, Boscha was arriving at the Blight’s house. She stepped out of her car and looked at the Blight’s huge house from across the street. Sneaking around to the back, she found the rugged side of the house. It had plenty of footholds for Boscha to climb up with and was just below Amity’s bedroom window. Boscha quickly scaled the side of the house, making sure to be as quiet as possible. As she got closer to the top she could hear the muffled voices of Mr. and Mrs. Blight arguing somewhere in the house. She also heard light crying. Boscha peered into the window and saw Amity on her bed, hugging a pillow, tears running down her face. Boscha stepped through the window and got the attention of the green haired girl who quickly tried to wipe her tears away. Boscha sat on the youngest Blight’s bed next to her and just hugged her, holding her close and softly to show her that it was okay to cry.

“It’s going to be okay Amity.” Boscha said reassuringly.

“I’m stuck in my room for the next week. My parents have already told Dana I won’t be filming during that time.” Amity said sadly.

“Oh Amity…” Boshca put a hand to Amity’s face, swiping away a tear with her thumb. She hoped she would be able to get Amity out of the house during the next week. She would have tried to drive her to the set every day but she didn’t want to interfere with Mr. and Mrs. Blight. They could get her fired. Boscha just kept holding Amity as she got it all out. “Isn’t that going to delay production of Understanding Willow?’

“No, we’ve already filmed the scenes I'm in. All that’s left is Gus, Eda, and King’s scenes. Just perfect.” Amity sniffed and got up. She walked over to her desk and took out a sheet of paper only to ball it up and tear it in half. “Sorry, I really needed that.”

“Do what you need to do Am, you have the right to feel angry.” Boscha said as she laid back on Amity’s bed.

“It’s just… It’s so stupid! Who would want to follow us around and take photos of us? The paparazzi isn’t usually so personal. Why do people even do this? Are they  _ trying  _ to be assholes??” Amity exclaimed as she ripped up another sheet of paper.

“Well, people get into this job and then the need to produce content makes them do these things. But if you ask me, it feels like someone has a grudge against you and Luz. Maybe staying on the down low is the right decision for now.”

Amity frowned. She started to tear a third piece of paper, but stopped in the middle of doing it. She only crumpled it up and threw it across the room. Then she walked over to the bed and flopped on it next to Boscha, screaming into the blankets.

“But hey, as soon as the press has gone down, you’ll get right back to the Owl crew and you’ll see Luz again!” Boscha said to try and cheer the girl up.

“I’m so sick and tired of staying silent when this happens Boscha! Whenever Ed and Em get media coverage our parents just tell us to ghost our social media accounts and that it’ll all blow over! Look where that’s gotten us… and with Luz. God, will things even be the same between us now? What if she thinks it’s weird? Or  _ I’m _ weird? What if the press tries to ask her about how she feels about me? God Emira was right, no wonder she was so distraught over this. It’s probably even scarier for her, being the older sister and seeing the reactions some sort of romantic relationship gets from the fans for her younger sister. And all I can do is worry about Luz and if she’s doing okay. I don’t want to put her through that.” Amity said, lifting her head from the bed.

“Relax girl, Luz couldn’t hate you even if she tried.”

“How do  _ you _ know that Miss blind-to-emotions?” Amity questioned.

“Well, for one, she told me that she was more worried about how you were taking this than if the reporters criticized her acting. And secondly, she got you this.” Boscha smiled and handed Amity the gift bag. It was pink with a little gold ribbon on the handles of the bag. The bag was very small but the wonders inside would speak louder than that. Amity sat up straight and took the gift.

She hesitantly looked at Boscha who was awaiting her reaction. Reaching into the bag she felt a waxy cardboard box. Picking it up, she realized the label was from a bakery Willow and she had passed in the plaza. Upon opening it, her eyes grew wide as they stared at the round mini cheesecake with strawberries on top. What made her heart sore, however, was that the little strawberries were ears on a chocolate painted bunny’s face. Strawberry icing created a cute little button nose while carefully placed chocolate sprinkles made the eyes and the mouth. There was a small fork in the bag too so Amity quickly took a bite, savoring the sweet taste in her mouth before taking another.

“I see that made you cheer up. You like it?” Boscha asked. Amity nodded her head vigorously in response earning a chuckle from Boscha. “Well there’s more so keep looking.”

Amity lightly set the half eaten cheesecake on her bed and dug around in the bag again. She felt a piece of rolled tissue paper surrounding something small and hard. She carefully took it out of the bag and unrolled it to find a beautiful golden hair clip. It had little crystals on it and wasn’t abnormally big or small. Amity gasped as she looked at Boscha who was smirking.

“Pretty, am I right?” Amity nodded, this time much more sincerely and full of gratitude.

“It’s… beautiful…” Amity said, her breath taken away at the sight of the hair clip.

“Yeah, when Luz and I were looking for it she said, and I quote, ‘I want something as bright as Amity’s eyes and as beautiful as her soul.’ It was adorable but also hella cheesy. I wanted to barf.”

“I think it’s sweet.” Amity said, nudging Boscha. “That’s so nice of her to do this for me…”

“Yeah I wonder why she did it you doofus.” Boscha said, smiling but rolling her eyes. “So don’t think for a second this whole media thing is gonna make Luz think differently of you, you’re like, all she thinks about now.”

Amity blushed. She held the hair clip close and smiled to herself. “I want to say thank you to her.” She picked up her phone and powered it on. She jumped when she saw all the missed calls from Luz and various texts. There were also a bunch of unknown numbers and email notifications from reporters and magazines asking to interview her. But for now, all Amity could focus on was Luz. She called Luz back, hearing it ring a few times, and going to voicemail.

She tried a few more times. “Is she okay?” Amity asked worriedly.

“She’s fine, last I saw her she was hanging with Willow. Probably got a ride home with her. I think she needed to talk to the police though, something about a creep named Jeremy and Bec.”

“Right, right. Okay, i’ll talk to her after she’s done and we’ll get this all sorted out.” Amity was no longer moping and crying. She had a new determination in her, partly due to reassurance of Luz’s thoughtful gifts as well as her own belief that she and Luz could handle anything the press threw at them. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna draw the hair clip eventually and Luz with the keychains on her jeans. But I was distracted by the last season of Kipo and the Age of the Wonderbeasts!! Y'all should watch it, it's so good T^T Anyways, leave me a comment or dm me if you loved the chapter! My Instagram is Keysstylus if you wanna see art or updates too! We're getting close to 1k so that live stream is gonna get scheduled soon ;) I'll be holding a poll on my Instagram story so make sure you're following me! Okay, that's all! Have a good day/ night and drink water! Take care of yourselves!


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's late at night and things get crazy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no words for this chapter... *throws chapter at readers like it's a ticking time bomb and runs to hide*
> 
> E-enjoy...
> 
> (TW// a lot more cursing in this chapter than normal)

“Thank you Miss Noceda. I understand that it is starting to get late so you are free to leave or wait for your friend to come down to the station. We’ve already called her using the number you provided us. Have a good evening..”

Luz thanked the police officer and prayed to any higher deity that she didn’t believe in that she didn’t get stuck with the racist cop. Luckily, he was off duty early. Luz never had to even encounter the guy today. Walking out of the meeting room, Luz looked around the halls and finally found her way to the front. She looked back at the old guy manning the front desk and gave him a wave. His tired but warm smile gave Luz a feeling of comfort. He waved back, wishing her a good evening. As she walked out of the police station, she took out her phone.

“Oh shit!” Luz scrolled through the multitude of missed calls from Amity and Boscha. She had remembered to tell her mom and Willow, who dropped her off, what she was doing, but assumed Amity was still busy. Boscha must have been with Amity when she tried to call. Luz clicked on Amity’s contact name, smiling a little at the dorky new contact photo she had added as well as the smiley face next to her contact name. She held the phone up to her ear, listening to the ring. The phone lightly vibrated against her hand as she waited in anticipation to hear Amity’s voice on the other end. It rang 4 times and nothing. Luz sent a quick text.

_ Luz: sorry! I was talking to the police about the creep. How are you? _

“Luz.” A stern voice said from somewhere by Luz. Luz jumped and looked around. She spotted a figure walking towards her. Their eyes were cold and their posture was slumped over. A dark sweater covered their torso and they wore scuffed up sneakers. There was a scar starting to form on the person’s face. Luz realized it was Bec. The bandages must have been covered up by her clothes but she seemed to walk just fine after being discharged from the hospital. Luz furrowed her eyebrows.

She assumed this wasn’t the best day to have Bec come talk to the police… right after she was discharged from the hospital. She looked completely different from the person Luz had talked to in the morning. She reached out towards Bec’s silent face, wanting to ask how her wounds were healing, but her hand was quickly slapped away by. “Why did you go to the police?”

“Why do you think?? A crazy guy chased us around, hurt you, and almost killed me!” Luz exclaimed, holding her hand that had been slapped away. Her shoulders tensed and her heart sank. She remembered her conversation with Amity earlier. Bec continued to talk.

“The police are unreliable, they won’t do anything for you. And now you’ve dragged me into this without even asking me about it in the first place.”

Luz started to steam. “You were literally the one who had bodily harm! It’s evidence! They can do things with evidence!”

“Oh so I’m just proof for you to show some self entitled cops? Wow that’s real nice, i’ve sunk pretty low haven’t I?” Bec hissed. Luz’s eyes twitched.

“What are you even talking about Bec? I never said that!”

“I’m starting to think it’s true though. Did  _ Amity _ tell you to go to the police? Did you have fun hanging out with  _ Amity _ ?? You care so fucking much about  _ Amity _ why even bring me up at all??” Bec started to step closer to Luz. The height difference allowed her to tower over the latina, who was starting to shake in the hands. Luz clenched her jaw. Settling her hands at her sides and closing them tight, she looked Bec straight in the eyes.

“Amity is my friend. Of course I care about her.” Luz said flatly.

“Y’know i’m starting to think there’s more to it than that. Did you two get together or something? Oh rightttt you did! All those articles out right now sure make it seem like you only care more about Amity because she  _ means _ something to you. Huh? Am I right?”

“No, I-”

“‘No, I- I’” Bec mocked. “You’re really letting a stupid crush come before your best friend? Someone you’ve known since you were a kid? Who actually helped you and gave a damn about you for years on end??” Bec was right in Luz’s face now, screaming. Luz’s throat tightened. Her eyes widened as she was taken back to those days in middle school. The fear she felt and the courage she didn’t have back then. Bec continued to yell. “For someone who’s a complete fraud! She doesn’t care about you Luz, all her family cares about is money and power! How is she any different? You’re only going to get hurt, stop fucking around and wake up! She doesn’t deserve any of the fame she has,  _ you _ actually worked for it-”

A sharp sound cut through the quiet noise of the LA night.

Bec stood back, in shock. Luz felt the sting on her hand from making contact with Bec’s cheek. The one without the wound. “Get out of my face.” Luz said quietly under her breath.  _ I’m tired of feeling trapped. _ Luz stared up at Bec. Her shoulders rolled back and she dug her nails into the palms of her hands, which were still visibly shaking from the anger she felt. Hot frustrated tears blurred her vision. “You can say whatever the fuck you want about me. I don’t care. But don’t you  _ dare _ say Amity doesn’t work for her fame.”

“Even if she does, she doesn’t have to be snobbish about it. She needs to speak up more and stop hiding behind her parents. It wouldn’t even work between you two. Look at the commotion the press has made already.” Bec crossed her arms and glared at Luz. She was clearly annoyed at her. Bec rubbed her cheek. “I don’t understand what’s gotten into you. You’ve changed, Luz. You’re not the same person I was friends with before.”

Luz’s feet felt like cinder blocks. She wanted so much to just run away from this conversation and from Bec. She hated how she felt and how scared and vulnerable this made her feel. She hated thinking about how it played out this way in middle school all the time. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. The blood was boiling in her head.

“I’m done here.” Luz slowly picked up her feet. It was as if chains were dragging along the ground behind her. Her ankles were feeling heavy. She took the first step. “Stop talking to me.” Another step. “Stop texting me.” Finally, she walked past Bec, leaving her gritting her teeth. Bec quickly grabbed Luz’s wrist.

“Come on Luz, you’re being crazy. Let me drive you home.” Bec said, laughing a little.

Luz tore her hand away immediately. She looked over her shoulder to Bec. Giving her the same icy stare that she had been trapped under for the past decade of her life. “I would rather walk than be anywhere with you right now.” Luz quickly ran away and down a street. She didn’t know where she was going, she didn’t care. All she knew was that she wanted to get away from Bec.

She didn’t know how long she had run for. Finally taking a break and catching her breath, she leaned against the concrete wall of a random building. The night was quiet and the stores were all closed wherever she was. Panting, she looked around. Nobody was walking the streets but there were definitely some cars passing by. Luz pressed her back against the wall and slid down. She held her head in her hands. Shaky sobs came from the young actress. The rest of the world tuned out as she desperately tried to control herself. Her chest heaved as she lightly laughed to herself.  _ I did it _ . She finally broke free of Bec. She had the bravery to do it and it was all thanks to Amity.  _ Fuck you Bec _ . Luz thought as she wiped away some of her tears. That was one of the single hardest things she’s ever done. Thank god she had a few days off and only needed to get her outfit tailored for the Grom episode. She could see Amity and everything could move on.  _ She _ could move on.

Luz finally calmed down and laid her head back. She stared at the dark sky and assumed she should probably call Camilia to come pick her up. She looked at nearby street signs.  _ Yeah, I have no idea where I am _ . She thought to herself. Taking her phone out, she dialed in Camilia’s number and let it ring.

“Luz! Did it really take that long? Are you okay?”

“Hi mama…” Luz said, taking a deep breath. “I’m at XXX on XXX boulevard. Can you please come pick me up?”

“Jesus Luz, how’d you get so far from the police station??

“It’s… complicated. I don’t know… maybe I’ll tell you about it when you get here.”

“Mija, are you safe right now? Any shady people around you? I’m on my way, don’t worry-”

Camila’s voice was interrupted by someone in the background. “Relax Cami, Luz will be fine. The corner of LA she got herself into is one of the safest and most laid back areas around. Just keep her on the phone so we know she’s alive.” Luz recognized the voice to be Eda’s. Luz smiled a little. She was glad Eda was able to calm her mother down, although she had the right to be worried. Luz rested her head against the wall and sighed. She looked at her free hand. It was still slightly shaking. She hugged her knees, thinking over what had just happened. She questioned if that was the right choice. She wondered if she would regret it tomorrow. 

“Luz? LUZ?? I told you Edalyn! She’s  _ NOT _ okay! DRIVE FASTER!” Camilia yelled on her end of the phone. Luz giggled to herself. She listened to the two bicker.

“Calm  _ DOWN _ calm down!! Luz, I know you’re there! Please say something so your mother will stop hitting me to drive faster! She hits hard!” Eda said.

“I’m here, don’t worry mama.” Luz said quietly into the phone. She looked around. It felt like ants were crawling up her back and neck. She was starting to get a headache and almost felt like she was imploding with tension. She tried to lower her shoulders, taking deep breaths to do so. Her eyes darted around, hoping nobody saw her. Especially Bec who hopefully didn’t run after her like she’s done before.  _ Please get here soon _ Luz thought to herself, holding herself tighter.

On the other end, Camilia had the phone on speaker and hooked up to the car so she could hear every little sound Luz made. She had to make sure her light was still shining, even if faintly. Eda took a hand off the steering wheel to put on Camilia’s. Taking her eyes off the road for a small second, Eda gave Camilia a reassuring glance.

“Hey, it’s gonna be ok. We’re gonna get there and she’s gonna be perfectly fine. I promise.” Eda squeezed Camilia’s hand tightly. Camila smiled softly at the gesture and squeezed back. She took a deep breath and thanked Eda. Quickly putting herself on mute, she looked over at the old actress. Her silver hair was up in a high ponytail and her face was staring straight ahead. Camilia knew that under all of that reassurance, Eda was secretly also deathly worried for Luz. For more reasons than just this. Camilia knew Eda was being taken back to her own horrific experiences with the press. She looked down at the ring on her finger. It wasn’t an engagement ring or anything, but it was a gift from Eda. A small gesture that spoke volumes. Camilia sighed.

“So I guess our plan to tell her tonight is busted, huh?”

“Yeah, probably not the best time.” Eda said. “I’m half relieved and half impatient. I… I’m scared to see her reaction… will she accept me? But I also just want to know how she’ll take it already. It’s killing me!” Eda whined.

“So indecisive, I promise you Luz loves you. Almost as much as I do.” Camila brought Eda’s hand to her lips and gave the pale skin a quick pec. Eda blushed, trying to focus on the road. Soon enough they made it to the section of LA Luz was at.

“Are you gonna talk to her about… y’know.” Camilia asked Eda.

“Yeah, I think letting her know she’s not alone would be good.” Eda responded.

The car rounded a corner and the two gasped when they found Luz sitting against a wall on the side of the street. A dim lamp light was the only thing that made her stand out. If Eda had been driving any faster, she would have missed her.

“Hey kid, come on, get in.” Eda said as she rolled down the window. Luz slowly got up, shakily walking over to the car door. Eda and Camilia shared a concerned look. When Luz was settled into the backseat, the door shut and the group was off. They sat in silence for a little bit. Luz felt like her throat had been taken out and she had no words to say. Eda spoke up.

“Do you wanna talk about it?”

Luz shook her head as she leaned against the car window. Her face was hot from all of the commotion in her head. Condensation crept up the windows form where Luz was breathing.

“Is it… because of the news today?” Camila lightly hit Eda who yelped. “I don’t know, maybe she has other things on her mind!” Eda whispered to Camilia.

“Today has just been… crazy. Suddenly… I feel both out of control and also like the world is looking down on me.” Luz said. She didn’t quite know how to express her feelings into words. She was just saying whatever could come out.

“Yeah… you feel that way sometimes. But… your feelings are still valid, Luz. I want you to know that.” Eda said. She gripped the steering wheel. “Y’know… when I was a little older than you are now… I got into a lot of trouble with the media.”

“You did?” Luz asked, getting up from the window a little to look towards the front of the car. “Was it… like my situation?”

“Worse.” Eda sighed. Camilia laid a hand on her shoulder to help. They took a deep breath. “I was a little too… outgoing with how I handled fame and recognition. So, I didn’t always think or consider what I was doing in public. One time… this fact got the best of me.”

Luz listened intently. She fidgeted with her thumbs as she watched the lights of the LA night go by.

Eda continued. “Lilith and I were coming out of some store, I don’t even remember which one. We just wanted to have fun and, well, a particularly rude person came and gave Lily trouble. I told the person that we were famous and that we could get bodyguards to handle him. He edged me on and continued to say worse things about Lilith and I wasn’t having it. I didn’t think of the fact we were in public before I fought with him. Physically, I mean. Geez, you shoulda seen the guy. I got him all wrecked up and everything. What I didn’t know was that a news reporter had caught the fight on video. Including the things I said about my fame.”

“And…” Luz dreaded to hear what may have arisen out of that. It made Luz’s situation with Amity feel like a second thought. “What happened after?”

“Well, the internet exploded about it. Lily and I’s fans were torn between each other and people started to ‘cancel’ us for what we did. They had interviewed the person I had beaten up and all they said were lies upon lies upon lies. They even dared to say they were a fan of mine! It got messy really quickly.”

“So how did you fix it?”

“It was out of my control at that point. I hadn’t handled it correctly so Lilith and I’s parents stepped in. They used their money and power to shut down the growing number of articles about Lily and I. I heard they got the original news reporter fired. It wasn’t the best look on us. I’ve spent all my life since then trying to make up for my mistake and learning to be better.”

Luz sat back and bit her lip. She picked at her fingernails and tried to think of anything but if Amity was going to suffer the same fate.

“I didn’t tell you that to scare you Luz.” They had finally arrived home. As Eda parked the car, she turned around to face Luz. “The press can escalate things really quickly Luz, but you’re not at the point of no control yet. If I know the Blights, they’re gonna try to ride this one out until everyone quiets down. That’s their philosophy. Don’t let them. Be upfront and use your voice Luz. People haven’t heard from you. You have no past history in this field, use this as an opportunity.”

“I… I promise I will Eda. I’ll handle this right. But I’m not the only one involved, I’ll have to talk to Amity tomorrow about this.”

“Yes but for now, let's all get some sleep. It’s late and we all had a very long day.” Camilia said as she got out of the car.

Luz walked to her room and kicked off her shoes. She didn’t even bother to change. She was too drained from the day. As she laid on her bed, her eyes grew heavy. Amity, Bec, the news… it was all still on her mind. But somehow, she was able to find a way to get to sleep. She hoped tomorrow would be a better day.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


“Damn cops kept me till midnight.” Bec hissed as she exited the police station. She grabbed her phone from her bag and quickly, frantically, tried to tap out a text to Luz. As she turned a corner, she felt her body collide with another and her phone fall out of her hands. A  _ crack _ could be heard as it hit the ground. “Are you fucking kidding me-” Bec was about to tell the person off but stopped when she looked at the green hair in front of her. She bent down and grabbed her phone, inspecting the damage. Just a cracked screen. She’d be sure to hear something about it from her dad whenever she saw him again. Back to Amity.

“Hi… Bec…” Amity said hesitantly. Bec glared at her.

“What are you doing here,  _ Blight _ .” Bec snapped.

“I was just making sure Luz was okay… listen i’m not really supposed to be out right now, have you seen her? I need to get back home soon-”

“Wait wait wait…” Bec ran a hand through her bangs, stopping to hold them back. Gripping the hair. She laughed. “Little miss perfect  _ Amity Blight _ is up past her bedtime?” Bec mocked. “How  _ scandalous! _ ”

“I just wanted to give Luz a ride home, have you seen her?” Amity said, starting to get impatient.

“Oh I've seen her, don’t worry your pretty little head. She’s not feeling too great, and decided to walk her ass home.” Bec giggled. Amity cringed, feeling uncomfortable.

“Is she hurt? Sick? Which direction did she go? Why didn’t you follow her??” Amity asked worriedly.

“Not sick  _ here _ ” Bec said as she gestured to her chest and body. “Just hella sick up  _ here _ ” Bec pointed at her head as if she were holding up a gun to her temple. “She’s going fucking crazy and it’s all your fault Blight! Before she met you she was fine! But you had to ruin that didn’t you, needed to be the center of attention!”

“ _ You’re _ fucking crazy. Bec, she could be in danger right now, don’t you care-”

“Of course I care!! I just don’t  _ baby _ her like you do. She can take care of herself and she doesn’t  _ need _ you. Just go home and worry about your fan mail.” Bec said, adjusting her bag that was slung over her shoulder. She put the phone back inside.

“I’m not going home until I know Luz is okay, and if you’re not gonna help me then the police station is right over there for me to get some real help.” Amity said, huffing as she started to walk away.

“Always so fucking righteous… why does Luz even like you? Who the fuck do you think you are to tear her away from me?!” Bec quickly took something out of her bag and lunged at Amity. If Amity hadn’t been quicker she would have been a goner. Luckily she saw Bec out of the corner of her eye and dodged the sharp knife in her hands.

“What the hell is wrong with you??” Amity screamed as she started to run away. Bec chased after her.

Amity spotted a familiar roundabout that she could easily maneuver around Bec in. Although, Bec seemed pretty unstable and unpredictable right now so she had no idea where she would swing that knife. 

There was no one else around to help her and if she went to the police, Bec would just get rid of the knife and act innocent. Amity quickly turned another corner and ducked away from Bec’s view. She heard Bec’s footsteps follow her around but not quite fast enough. Amity knew that she could loop around and get behind Bec. She followed the curve and sure enough, she was able to elbow Bec in the neck and get her down to the ground, knocking the knife out of her hands.

She quickly held Bec’s hand behind her back and placed a foot on her legs so she couldn’t move. Bec started to laugh crazily. Amity couldn’t believe the mess she had gotten herself in this late at night on a weekend. She hoped she could get some sort of law enforcement to come and take Bec away but she also knew that it’d look bad seeing Amity being the one pinning Bec to the ground. 

In Amity’s hesitation on what to do, Bec was able to wiggle out of her grasp and get to her feet. She ran as fast as she could, leaving the knife where it was in order to get away from Amity.

  
  
  


_ Shit shit shit _ Bec thought. She had lost control for a second back there and acted impulsively. She was just so angry she didn’t realize what she was doing. It was just instinct for her. As she ran she felt an ache in her side. The stinging wound wasn’t meant for a late night chase. But she also heard Amity running after her from behind. So Bec kept going and going until she spotted a clearing across the street. She could get away if she could just get across. 

Before she could, however, a sting in her side caused her to stumble and fall into the street. When she looked up, she was met with bright lights, almost in her face. The world stopped. Her ears tuned out, only a distant voice was heard. Something along the lines of, “Look out.”

  
  
  
  
  
  


And then she found herself rolling on the ground, away from the middle of the street. She panted as she tried to get up. Her eyes widened as they stared at mint green slowly being stained with red. The car had stopped a little farther down the road. The driver frantically got out of their car. Bec could only stare. Her chest felt empty. In the midst of the carnage, she saw a phone. It had been thrown out of Amity’s pocket when it happened. It now settled at Bec’s feet. She bent down to pick it up. Bec wiped some of the glass off along with some blood. She put it in her pocket and walked over to the driver who was gesturing for her to come over. Bec held her hands behind her back and glared at the unconscious body on the ground. 

Airy exasperated laughs escaped her mouth as she gripped her hair again. Pushing back her bangs as some blood smeared on her forehead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well if you hated Bec... you REALLY hate her now :) Also, don't worry, Amity isn't dead. And in case some people didn't understand the end, the phone Bec took at the end was Amity's phone.
> 
> Also... Jeremy's knife was bound to come back when Bec kept it... but now that it's on the ground somewhere in LA, will it return a third time?
> 
> On a much HAPPIER note, WE JUST HIT 900 FOLLOWERS ON INSTAGRAM!!! Thank you so much!! At 950 followers I will open up the poll on my Instagram story to figure out what time I should hold the 1k live stream. I'll be answering questions about the fanfic, the story, my art, my schedule/ process, etc! All while drawing requests from you! So yeah, my Instagram is keysstylus follow me so you don't miss it


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 90% of this chapter is just Luz going throughout her day being oblivious... but if you know me you know my pattern for my chapters ;) 
> 
> (PLEASE READ END NOTES)

Luz woke up the next morning, bright and early. She groggily sat up in her bed, wiping some unwanted drool from the corner of her mouth. Her body ached as she stretched and struggled to focus her eyes. Her brain was slowly starting to work. She remembered how late she had stayed up last night because of everything that happened. She remembered her day with Amity, Boscha, and Willow. Luz smiled to herself and found herself in the same clothes she wore yesterday. She messed with the keychains on the belt loop of her jeans. The jingle made her giggle. She thought about Amity in particular. How good she looked in that blazer. Her advice to Luz in the car about Bec.  _ Oh yeah… Bec _ Luz thought.

She immediately cringed at the thought. Guilt crept up her back but she tried to fight it off.  _ I did the right thing. _ She reminded herself about what Amity told her.  _ It’s not selfish… i’m not selfish. _ She tried to reassure herself. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath in through her nose, she held it for a few counts and exhaled.  _ At least I get to see Amity today. _ Luz thought. 

She threw the covers off of her and got out of bed. She was finally fully awake. Today she would be changing clothes a lot so she shouldn’t wear anything too flashy or tight. Luz took out some black joggers from her dresser drawer but then realized that it was starting to get warmer. She reminded herself she was in LA and so the heat came a little sooner than other places. 

Putting the joggers back, she changed her mind to a pair of loose striped cotton shorts. She laid them out on the bed. Next she turned to her closet. Inside she saw a multitude of brightly colored sweaters, jackets, and flannels. Above that rack, she found a neatly stacked pile of graphic t-shirts. She eyed a cream colored shirt with some members of The Beatles on it in different colors. She reached up and tried to get it out from under the stack. The stack came toppling over once she got it free and fell onto the closet floor.

“Dang it.” Luz said sadly. She sighed. “I clean it up later.” She said to herself, taking the shirt and throwing it on the bed. Going back to the closet, she looked for her favorite pair of purple high top Converse sneakers. She grunted in frustration when she couldn’t find them, immediately thinking they were lost to the depths of her messy closet. Coming out of the closet defeated, she almost tripped over something but caught herself. Looking down she laughed to herself. “Riiiigghhhtt, I wore them yesterday.” At her feet was one of the purple sneakers turned on its side, the shoelaces undone. Her outfit was almost done, she just had to find the other shoe.

She looked around on the ground but couldn’t find it. Scratching her head, she wondered what could have happened to it. Slightly worried she somehow lost it, she retraced her steps. She had just stumbled into her room, kicked her shoes off, and flopped down on the bed. Where could they have gone? Sighing again, Luz laid on the floor. She felt like she had no energy and wanted to just give up and go back to sleep. Probably due to the lack of sleep, but she’s pulled all nighters before while she was still in school. Why did she feel so… out of her zone. Pushing the thought out of her head, she rolled on her side and spotted the shoe under her bed. 

“Of course, of course it's under my bed.” Luz said to herself. She grabbed it and laid it next to it’s sibling. Quickly changing out of her clothes she caught a whiff of herself. Making a disgusted face, Luz decided she should probably shower first. 

Once the shower was running and the water was warm, Luz stepped in. The world around her seemed to bleed away. The soothing sound of water hitting the floor and the warm feeling on her greasy hair felt good. She always loved showers. They comforted her. She liked to think that the water washed away all of the tension in her shoulders of the pain in her neck and body when she’d have a rough day. Luz put her head under the water. This part was the best. Any thoughts in her head, drowned out by the sound of water against her head. It was like extra noise that pushed out anything else. Luz loved it.

After standing like that for a while, the water soothing her, she heard a knock on the bathroom door. “Hey kid, you in there? We gotta leave soon!”

Luz jumped. “Gah, sorry sorry! E-eda? Wait why are you here?”

“I’m taking you to the studio today, Cami- I mean Camilia had to go to work and didn’t want to wake you.”

“Oh, okay! I’ll be out in a second!”

“Okay, I’ll wait for you in the car!”

Luz took one last dip under the stream of water to wash out any more thoughts she might have had clogging her brain. Then she got out of the shower and turned it off, grabbed a towel, and ruffled her hair. Quickly blow drying it and tying the longer portions back with a hair tie, she wrapped herself in the towel and walked to her room. She changed into her outfit for the day and grabbed her bag. Getting out of the house and locking the door, Luz ran over to Eda who was waiting in her car. She got into the passenger side and the two were off to the studio.

Eda gripped the steering wheel and looked over to Luz who was being very quiet. Abnormally quiet. Eda assumed she was still thinking about whatever happened last night and the article with Amity.  _ This is your chance Eda, bonding time! _ Eda thought to herself, taking a quick breath.

“Soooo… Luz… how are you?” Eda asked awkwardly, trying to make small talk.

“I’m okay. What about you Eda?” Luz said as she stared out the window.

“I’m good, i’m good.” Eda said. They were back in silence. Eda bit her lip and sweated a bit.  _ Shit, what do I say now? _ Eda thought to herself. She searched in her mind for another conversation starter. Her thoughts were interrupted from a low grumble coming from Luz.

“Was that your stomach?” Eda asked.

“...Yeah.” Luz mumbled.

Eda thought to herself. “Why don’t we go get some McDonalds. You didn’t have breakfast, did you?”

“... no… I didn’t” Luz said under her breath.

Eda took a quick detour and got to the first McDonalds she could see. Getting in line at the drive thru, she turned to Luz. “So… aren’t you about at the age to drive by yourself?”

Luz sat up and looked to Eda. “Yeah… I have my license and everything. I just don’t have a car. Mom uses hers to get to work every day.”

“I see.” Eda smirked. She had an idea. “I have a feeling you’ll be getting one soon.”

“Have you talked to my mom about it?”

“Er… no…” Eda said. She still wanted to keep her idea a surprise. She quickly changed the subject. “What do you want from the menu?”

Luz’s face brightened up. “Hash browns.” She said seriously.

Eda laughed to herself. “Just hash browns?”

Luz got red. “I-i mean that and a McGriddle! Sorry…”

“No no, it’s ok kid. I guess the hash browns here are really good?”

“SO GOOD!” Luz exclaimed out of nowhere. She covered her mouth quickly and turned around, hiding her embarrassed face. Eda just kept laughing and drove forward to the drive thru speaker.

“Can I get a McGriddle meal with an extra hash brown? That’s all.”

The drive thru worker repeated the order back and told Eda the price of the breakfast. Eda gave a quick thank you and continued through the line. The service was surprisingly fast for a morning in LA so the two were up to the front right away. As Eda was getting the food from the employee, Luz looked inside the McDonalds, catching the eye of the young worker.

“L-Luz?? Luz Noceda??” The worker screamed.

“Oh boy.” Eda said to herself as she took the food.

“Wait wait wait, don’t go! Luz, I have so many questions! Luz! LUZ!” The worker yelled as Eda respectfully told her they were in a hurry and drove away. As Eda rolled up her window, Luz could hear the worker scream one last question. “Is it true you and Amity are dating??”

  
  
  
  
  


Eda and Luz finally got to the studio. Eda got out of the car and was followed by Luz. The two walked inside the building and found Dana, Alex, and Gus talking about the scenes they would be filming today. Once they noticed Luz, it was the exact same as the last time with the photos from the forest. Luz had to make herself let go of the breath she was holding. She tried to ignore the eyes on her as she and Eda walked up to Gus. Alex and Dana had stepped away to talk in private about something. Gus had his hands in the pockets of his Hexside uniform and awkwardly smiled at Luz.

“Hey Luz! Eda! What’s up?” Gus asked, trying to seem normal.

“Hi Gus, you’ve probably seen what’s up, don’t lie.” Luz said, taking her hand out of the hair tie, running a hand through it, and redoing it.

“Yeah… Dana is planning on talking to you about that-” Gus started.

“Oh god, is she gonna tell me I can’t film with Amity anymore or something?? Or even worse, I can’t keep my role? OR Amity can’t keep her role???”

Gus quickly placed his hands on the worried Luz’s shoulders to calm her down and get her attention. “Luz! Luz! Calm down, it’s not bad. She’s more worried about you and Amity than about the show or your roles in it. Don’t sweat it.”

Luz exhaled. “Thanks Gus. Anyways, are you excited to film today?”

“Of course! I always love my little scenes I get for myself, don’t get me wrong, you guys are perfect for your roles… I just, sometimes wish I could get more of a spotlight.”

It was Luz’s time to put her hands on Gus’ shoulders. “Gus… your time will come! The fans are gonna love you! There are plenty of Gus fanboys and fangirls on Twitter right now! Check it out!”

Luz handed Gus her phone after she pulled up a few stan accounts that worshipped Gus like he was a god. They edited screencaps of him with emojis and hearts and the captions were always so positive. Gus smiled at them, making Luz cheer up too. Dana and Alex walked back over.

“Okay Gus, Eda, let’s go film. I’ll be standing in as director while Dana talks to Luz. Let’s go to the set.” Alex said as he ushered Eda and Gus away.

Dana stood in front of Luz, staring down at her with a soft but worried face. She wasn’t smiling but she wasn’t frowning. Her eyes held all of the emotion, all of her thoughts. “Come walk with me.” She said, turning on her heel and going down the hall of the studio. Luz walked next to her.

They passed all different set designs. It was as if Dana was giving Luz a tour. They passed the costume and special effects department to which Luz gave Dana a questionable look. Dana only kept walking so Luz decided to go along with it. Soon enough, they came to a section of the building she hadn’t been to before. It seemed a lot more dreary and professional than the others. The colors were more serious and inside of the rooms Luz could see long tables with white boards on the walls. Some of them had the windows closed and the doors were labeled with names. Dana stopped at one that said “D. Terrace.” Luz assumed this was her office.

Inside was a flurry of papers. The place wasn’t organized but it wasn’t exactly clean either. It felt like a controlled type of chaos. There was a laptop, a computer, and a few extra screens. A drawing tablet was plugged into one of the screens and there were scattered files on the desktop. Dana sat down in her chair while Luz took a seat in one of the extra ones in the room.

“This is about the article isn’t it.” Luz blurted out, wanting to get this over with.

“No Luz, this is about you and Amity. I want you to know that if you’re uncomfortable with any of the upcoming scenes in the Grom episode or further, that you can tell me and we will make accommodations.” Dana said, giving Luz a caring look.

“Thank you Dana…” Luz bit her lip. “I really appreciate your concern… but, well, I want to do those scenes. I want to dance with Amity and I want to pick her up in Wing It Like Witches.”

“If that is your choice then that is okay. We will keep them in. Do you have a plan of how you’re going to address those photos of you two?”

“I thought you said this wasn’t about the article.”

“I know I did.” Dana said. “I just want to help you if you need any guidance. This stuff can get sticky. I am sure you know that the media can twist and turn your words back at you if they don’t like what you say. But that doesn’t mean you should silence yourself for them.”

“I know… thank you Dana. I think I just need to talk to Amity. Dana, what do you think is the worst thing that could come out of this? Why is it so bad that people ship us now?” Luz questioned.

“There is absolutely nothing wrong with people shipping you two. We can’t control what they like or not. The problem arises if they start to become toxic about it. Then it reflects our fan base and furthermore, our show. For your guys’ mental health it could put a strain on your friendship. So you two have to make a clear distinction to the public whether you are friends or not. People will just keep assuming things if you don’t.”

“That makes sense… thanks Dana. That’s good advice.” Luz said, rubbing her face with her hands.

“No problem Luz. Speaking of which, if you see Amity today can you tell her to come talk to me? I haven’t seen her yet.”

“Isn’t she supposed to come in today? To pick and tailor our Grom outfits?” Luz questioned.

“Yeah, she might come in late. There’s no rush since you two aren’t filming any scenes.”

“Okay… well I’ll let you know if I see her.” Luz got up out of her chair and walked over to the door. Dana stayed seated. “I have to get to the costume department. See you around Dana.”

“Thanks, Luz. Have a nice day.”

Luz smiled and waved back as she exited the room. 

  
  
  
  


While in the costume department, Luz tried on all kinds of different outfits. There was a cool purple blazer or a cute black dress. Some of the other outfits had too many sparkles, glitter, or were made out of itchy material. Luz tried them all on but couldn’t figure out which one fit her the best. While the stylists were trying to propose a solution, Luz saw a tutu out of the corner of her eye. She laughed and walked over to pick it up. It was pink and very frilly.

“What if I wore this?” Luz said jokingly.

“Whatever you want Luz. It might be a little hard to dance in though.” One of the designers said.

“True.” Luz looked around. She grabbed a black tailcoat off of a hanger and wrapped it around her Beatles shirt. She then proceeded to put on the tutu on her lower half. “I think i’d be willing to take the risk.”

Some of the designers laughed at Luz a little but others talked among themselves about the tutu tailcoat combo. “Actually, with a little work we could pull that off. Maybe we’ll make the tutu a little less big so it doesn’t get in the way of the dance too much. We’ll also have to trim the sleeves of the tux since it’s a little long for your arms. A simple white button up would do with it. What about your shoes? And do you want to wear anything under the tutu?”

Thank god there were stylists who actually knew what they were doing. Luz hadn’t even thought of that. She looked around the shoe closet and found some brown boots and purple leggings. “How about this?” She said, holding them up for the stylists to see.

“I think that’d go fine together.” One of the stylists said. Others nodded in agreement.

Luz squealed in excitement. “Awesome! Say… have you talked to Amity yet? Can I know what she’s wearing? What if we matched!” Luz exclaimed.

“We haven’t seen her today. Could you tell her to come by so we can get her outfit ready for next week?”

Luz bit her lip. That was strange. It was nearly 12 noon now and no sign of Amity. She’s not usually one to be late. “Uh, yeah, I’ll tell her.” Luz said as she walked out of the room. “Thank you!” She yelled back. Luz ran back over to set to find Gus, Eda, and Alex finishing up a scene. Gus spotted Luz and motioned for her to come over. He was looking at his phone and seemed distressed.

“Gus! First, how did you scene go? And second, have you seen Amity??” Luz asked.

“Thank you for asking Luz, I think it went really well! And also, no I haven’t seen Amity… and this is probably why.” Gus turned his phone around to show Luz. It was another article titled,  _ AMITY BLIGHT ADMITTED INTO XXX HOSPITAL _

“What the f-”

“I know I know! No one knows why or how she got there! There’s probably a whole crowd of reporters trying to get the first scoop. The internet is going insane! First that photo of you and her dancing, and now she’s in the hospital?? People are creating crazy theories.” Gus exclaimed.

Luz clenched her fists. “No matter what, I have to go talk to her. About all of this. I also just want to make sure she’s okay.” Luz turned on her heel to leave but Gus stopped her.

“Luz, there could be an army of reporters, fans, anybody with a camera or something to record you with. Maybe this isn’t the best idea-”

“Gus I need to get to her! I- I don’t even know if she’s in there because of something really bad or maybe it’s a terrible physical injury, or worse something mentally because of those photos of us dancing. I don’t want to be the cause of her being in the hospital. I promise I’ll be safe.”

“O-okay Luz… I wish I could come with you but we have to film the rest of the scenes. I keep messing up on my lines, if I was just better maybe-”

“Gus I felt the same way when I first started out acting. You’ve got this! Trust yourself and just go with the flow. I promise it will work out. Don’t worry about me, focus on acting! And have fun!” Luz said with a smile and thumbs up. Gus nodded.

“Thank you Luz, be careful okay? Put on a hat, sunglasses, mask, anything you can. Try not to draw attention to yourself.”

“Got it Gus, I’ll be okay, I promise. See you around!” Luz yelled as she dashed away from the set. She threw on a discarded prop hat, some sunglasses, and Eda’s mask which was in her bag then proceeded to run as fast as she could out of the studio. She was already done for the day so it didn’t matter if she told anyone. Eda was going to have to stay late and told her she could do what she wanted. Luz got out of the studio and looked around for street signs. She glanced at the name of the hospital the article said Amity was admitted to and figured out which direction it would be from the studio.

  
  
  
  


By the time she got to the hospital, she was out of breath and panting. She decided to take the mask off so she could breath as well as the sunglasses because she was sweating. The hat stayed but didn’t help all the sweat in her hair that was slowly slicking it back. She finally stood up straight once she had caught her breath and saw a humongous crowd of people in front of the hospital doors. Reporters were holding up cameras and microphones, asking millions of questions to the poor secretary at the front trying to keep them out. Luz put her mask and sunglasses back on and pushed her way to the front.

“Please stay back! The hospital is still taking patients and we need the doors to be clear! Please stop pushing!” Yelled the hospital worker. There were fans pushing and shoving and reporters doing the same. All were trying to yell over each other asking about Amity.

“Is Amity okay??” Yelled a fan.

“Is this related to the photos of her and Luz Noceda?” A reporter asked.

“Why is she in the hospital??” More people wondered.

Luz tried to get the hospital worker’s attention. “Could you please let me in? Amity is one of my best friends and I need to talk to her!”

“Sorry kid, unless you’re family, we can’t let you in. I’m going to need to start calling the police if this keeps up and people can’t behave themselves!” The worker yelled so that the whole group could hear her. It didn’t work. In one ear and out the other. Luz kept trying to reason with the worker until one of the reporters gasped near her.

“That’s Luz Noceda!! Luz! Luz! Do you know why Amity Blight is in the hospital??” The reporter asked her, shoving a microphone in her face. Suddenly all of the cameras and flashing lights were on her. Luz’s skin crawled as she started to panic. She ducked her head and tried to push her way through the crowd. She felt a hand take hers and pull her through.

“What the-” She tried to pull her hand away but when she looked at the girl pulling it, she realized she was different from the others. She ran with Luz to escape the crowd of reporters. Luz was thankful that it at least got them off of the hospital staff’s back for a little bit. The girl ushered Luz into her car and started to drive away.

“I’ll drop you off somewhere they can’t find you.” She said while they were in the car.

“W-why are you doing this for me?” Luz questioned.

“Because i’m your fan! Gosh, did that seem cool? Or was it weird? I hope it wasn’t weird, please don’t think I’m weird, I just really admire your acting and-” The girl squealed. Luz giggled.

“It’s ok, it’s ok. Thank you for getting me out of there. What was your name?” Luz asked.

“Laza!” The girl said quickly. She blushed a little out of embarrassment to which Luz only smiled at.

“Well Laza, do you have any social media I can follow? You deserve it, thank you for being a real fan.” Luz said, holding up her phone. Laza’s eyes widened.

“A-are you serious?!?” She screamed out of happiness. “It’s @kinda_arty_person !! I draw a lot of fanart of The Owl House!”

Luz tapped on her profile and scrolled through her recent posts, seeing fanart of Luz, Eda, King, Willow, Gus, Amity, and more. “Wow Laza!! This is so cool! You’re a great artist!”

“Y-you think so?? Oh my god you’re making my day! Seriously!! Thank you!!”

Luz laughed. “Of course, of course!”

After some talking, Laza dropped Luz off away from all the commotion. Coincidentally, it was near her house so thankfully she wouldn’t have to walk far. Luz waved goodbye to Laza and started towards her house. She checked her phone and already found blurry pictures of her trying to escape the press. Some of the captions were harsh, saying that Luz was avoiding answering questions. Others were more supportive. There were a few featuring Laza’s back so Luz hoped she didn’t drag her into this as well. She seemed like a really nice person. Luz would hate to ruin things for a fan. As Luz got closer to her house and pulled up Amity and her messages.

_ Luz: Hey! Are you okay?? I saw you were in the hospital!! _

Luz got to her front door and unlocked it. She hoped Amity would respond but understood if she was busy. Luz only hoped that busy didn’t mean fatally injured. As soon as Luz got through the door and into her room, she felt her phone vibrate. A notification.

_ Amity: Hi, sorry, I was talking to a doctor. I’m okay _

Luz’s face brightened up at the text. She let out a sigh of relief and flopped onto her bed, happily tapping out a message to Amity.

_ Luz: I WAS SO WORRIED!! :(((( What happened?? _

_ Amity: I wasn’t watching where I was going and got hit by a car. Don’t worry though, I’m okay. _

Luz furrowed her brows. How could Amity be so clumsy?

_ Luz: I’m sure it was the car's fault, were you in a crosswalk? _

_ Amity: No it was totally my fault. I can be such a clutz sometimes. _

Luz was taken aback. She was slightly worried at Amity’s response. She didn’t think Amity would talk down on herself like that.

_ Luz: Heyyy :( Don’t say that! You’re not a clutz! You’re so awesome :D You even helped me break away from Bec! Thank you by the way _

_ Amity: Wait what? _

_ Luz: Remember our talk? You gave me some really good advice so I took it to heart. I really told Bec off, you should have seen it! But… I feel like a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders. So thank you :) _

_ Amity: Oh right. I didn’t mean you should stop talking to her though. Maybe she’s upset. _

Now Luz was really confused. One minute Amity wanted to murder Bec for Luz… and now she’s saying to feel sympathy for her? 

_ Luz: Are you sure? I thought a break would be good? _

_ Amity: No, you probably hurt her feelings. You should apologize to her. _

Luz felt a dead weight in her chest. Did she… somehow upset Amity? Was yelling at Bec not the right choice? Guilt came back to Luz’s mind, engulfing her in a bad feeling. Her stomach churned as she hesitantly typed out another message.

_ Luz: Okay…? You good? _

_ Amity: Yeah. Do I not seem good? Might be the atmosphere in the hospital. If so then I should probably sleep more. I’ll ttyl. _

_ Luz: Right… feel better soon! :) _

Luz closed out of her phone. Something felt really off about that conversation. She worried Amity somehow damaged her brain or something and that’s why she was acting weird. Luz tried to think of millions of reasons for why Amity texted her like that. The strangest part was she used “ttyl”. Amity has never used abbreviations. Luz laid in bed thinking about this, trying to make sense of the situation.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Meanwhile, Bec got up from the side of the hospital bed she was sitting on. She closed out of the phone and turned around to look at the body in the bed. Her mint green hair was splayed out on the pillow and she had various scratches all over her face. Her eyes were closed and peaceful while her mouth was covered by a ventilator. Her breaths were shallow and shaky as her chest barely rose and fell. The faint beep of the heart rate monitor showed her condition. Her neck was bandaged up and her entire torso and parts of her arms had gauze on it to stop the bleeding.

“You might have saved me from that car…” Bec placed a hand on Amity’s chest. “But that was your own stupid mistake.”

She clenched her jaw and stared at the pale blank face. “Why would you try to save me…” Bec muttered under her breath. “Could have just let me die… I would have been out of your way.”

Bec looked back at the texts with Luz. She gripped the phone and turned her attention back to Amity. She pressed a little bit against Amity’s chest, causing the monitors around her that were hooked up to Amity to have fluctuations and jolts in their graphs. Bec scoffed. A doctor came into the room. Bec quickly took back her hand and smiled at the doctor.

“Thank you so much for waiting with her, how kind of you. We have the results back and it looks like a lot of her bones are broken but nothing permanent. With time they should heal. Our main concern, however, is the damage done to her spinal cord near her brain stem. In order to keep from a permanent injury we will have to do surgery on her to fuse some of the disks together. That will not be an easy job so she will have to stay at the hospital for a few weeks.”

Bec and the doctor talked a little more about Amity’s condition before Bec left the room so the doctors could run more tests. Outside of the hospital room, Bec stared at the barren white walls. She clenched her fists and gritted her teeth. Painful memories came back to her brain as she tried to tune out all of the familiar hospital sounds as well as the words of her mom in her head. She looked back at the door to Amity’s room.

“No. You deserve this. I was right. You were trying to get Luz away from. Well… two can play at that game.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (The next chapter will be the Boschlow amusement park date ;) )  
> My pattern is fluff, fluff, hint at angst, fluff, the hit em with the FEAR at the end :D mwahahaha (Also... not me actually doing research about car accidents for this chapter XD)  
> -  
> ALSO!! The winner of my DTIYS is in this chapter! Her Instagram is @kinda_arty_person and since she won 1st place, she won a cameo in the fanfic! I may hold more events in the future where you can have a cameo in the fic but I don't know when :) Also, by the time I upload this, I will be at 950 followers! So make sure to check my Instagram to vote for when I hold my 1k followers live stream!!


	24. Boschlow Date ;)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Boscha and Willow go on their amusement park date ;) Fears are faced, both physical and mental (Art for this chapter on my Instagram @keysstylus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, I apologize for not updating Wednesday! I had a really rough night and wasn't ready or in the mental space to post/ write. But aside from that, here is the Boschlow amusement park date chapter!
> 
> Most of this is adorable fluff and can be thought of as a spin-off or one-shot set in the Actor AU/ timeline. But there is some information in the chapter that explains some things that were confusing in the last chapter for some people as well as an update on Amity near the end of the chapter so I suggest you read it all haha. When I write I try to make every scene mean something for the characters or plot. None of it is filler.
> 
> I hope you enjoy it!

Boscha was on time for once. She put effort into looking good. She brushed her teeth 3 times and tried her hardest on her makeup. It was all for one singular day at the amusement park with Willow. She didn’t know whether to call it a date or not. Was that supposed to be established before they hung out? Either way, Boscha could feel the sweat rolling off her forehead as she stood in the middle of the sidewalk outside the gates to the amusement park. Her palms were clammy and she bit her lip. Her eyes darted from side to side and she stood up like a stiff plank of wood. Rummaging around in her pockets, she tried to find her phone. She looked down at her outfit.

_ Did she go overboard? _ Skinny beige jeans and a simple black button-up. Half of the button up was tucked into her pants while the other loosely hung out. The top two buttons were undone, showing off Boscha’s collarbone, a choker, and a thin gold chain for a necklace. She looked at her black Timbs on her feet and the black ring on her left hand. On her right wrist was the bracelet Willow got her. She smiled at it but quickly shook her head.

_ What the hell is wrong with me?! _ Boscha thought to herself. She had hung out with plenty of people before. Hell, Willow is one of them. So it’s not just that it’s her… or is it? Why now? All of a sudden? Boscha’s thoughts raced as she ran a hand through her hair. She decided to try something new and let it down for once. Boscha smiled to herself as she twiddled with a piece of her dyed pink hair. Willow made Boscha  _ want _ to try new things. Somehow Willow changed things in Boscha. Boscha wasn’t sure if she liked it or not. But the queasy feeling in her stomach tried to convince her she did. Boscha was paying no mind to the sounds her anxious stomach was making though. Her eyes widened as she watched Willow walk towards her.

The frills on her baby blue shirt bounced to her step. The sound of her white sneakers scuffing against the sidewalk traveled to Boscha’s ear. She blushed as she looked at the cream-colored skirt Willow was wearing. She looked so… pretty. 

Boscha put a sweaty hand out to Willow but immediately pulled it back, feeling her face heat up out of embarrassment. She tried to play it off and put it on her neck but cringed at the feeling of sweat against sweat.  _ Have I ever sweated this damn much?? _ Boscha thought to herself.

“Boscha? Speechless? Wow, I never thought it would happen.” Willow smirked. She giggled. Boscha stared at her with big eyes. She loved how Willow’s nose scrunched up and how her smile lines showed. Her eyes crinkled and they shone with purity. Boscha just wanted to poke those adorable cheeks and caress her beautiful face.

“Hey, you okay?” Willow asked as she gestured to Boscha’s hand which was awkwardly reaching out for Willow.

“I-I uh… you… you just have something on your dumb face is all!” Boscha blurted out. Her chest tightened as she looked away. Her hair hid her bright red face. She felt a small hand reach up and move it aside and behind her ear. She relaxed her shoulders and looked down at the green eyes staring back at her. Emerald green and gorgeous.

“I like your hair this way.” Willow ran a thumb through Boscha’s pink hair. “It suits you.”

Boscha turned her head again. Her breath was caught in her throat and her arms found themselves to be crossed. She scoffed. “T-thanks I guess… I wasn’t trying or anything… just my natural beauty.” She tried to play it off. She felt uneasy and scared. She just wanted to make this weird vulnerable emotion go away. She needed to act tough and strong and confident.

Willow glanced at the bracelet on her wrist. “Aw and you wore the bracelet I got you!”

“Of course I did… I- I like it lameass…” Boscha muttered. Another awkward silence.

“You never answered my question… are you okay?” Willow asked with concerned eyes. Boscha glanced at her face. 

“... Yeah? Why wouldn’t I be?” Boscha asked.

“Well… I’m assuming you found out Amity is hospitalized. And no one knows why…” Willow muttered. She knew that, like Willow, Amity was one of Boscha’s best and closest friends. She no doubt knew about it but Willow questioned if she was going to show the actual fear and concern she had for her friend. Boscha uncrossed her arms.  _ Right… _ Boscha thought. While she was busy distracting herself with this stupid little get together… her best friend is being guarded and blocked off in a hospital bed.

“Yeah… Ed and Em have been scheming to sneak in but Mr. and Mrs. Blight are keeping them on a tight leash. With the photos and this hospital incident two weeks ago, their parents really don’t want them to be out in public.”

“Are they involved at all? This is their daughter…” Willow said, twiddling her fingers.

“They’ve been making weekly visits on the weekends. There’s still a lot of press trying to get the big scoop during the day so the hospital staff lets them in at night. I heard from Ed and Em that Amity hasn’t woken up yet. They were told that Amity got into a car crash and some girl took her to the hospital. Mr. and Mrs. Blight didn’t care who though. I think she needs surgery.”

“That’s rough… so that’s why filming has been delayed. At least Grom and Wing it like Witches.”

“Yeah, I heard that they’re gonna make the hiatus longer because of this. It was only supposed to be one month… and now it’s being pushed back to July!” Boscha exclaimed. Even though it wasn’t an ideal subject, it did help her loosen up. It felt like Boscha was stuck between feeling anxious about her and Willows… “not-date” (as Boscha called it) or feeling worried about Amity’s condition. She didn’t know which one she preferred.

Willow let out a sigh. “Thanks for catching me up. I would ask Luz but she’s been acting weird again lately. She says she’s talking to Amity but she doesn’t seem happy about it?”

“Yeah, I’ve tried to reach out to Amity and she just ignores my texts? I thought she was unconscious at the hospital? Wouldn’t Luz know that? Doesn’t The Owl House staff tell her that?”

“They’ve told her but Luz is in denial. As long as she feels like she knows Amity is awake and okay, that’s what she wants to believe. Despite what we try and tell her. It seems fishy to me.”

“Yeah… like gross sardines” Boscha muttered. Willow raised an eyebrow and giggled.

“Yeah, right, sardines.”

There was that nervous feeling in her chest again. Boscha chewed the inside of her cheek and rolled her eyes. “Whatever whatever… enough of this, let’s go inside already. I have to show your lame ass all the cool rides.”

Boscha stuffed her hands in her pockets and walked over to the gate. She held up the online tickets and the staff scanned the barcode on her phone, allowing them into the park.

First Boscha wanted to show Willow a simple rollercoaster. After a bit of waiting, the two got to the front.

“See now  _ this _ is a rollercoaster. You just get in and have a good time. Simple!”

“I know what a rollercoaster is, Boscha.” Willow walked right up to the seats and strapped in. “You don’t have to explain it to me like I’m a baby.”

“Geez sorry, I thought you wouldn’t know. Make sure to buckle your waist too. Some of these have multiple safety straps.” Boscha said, pointing at Willow’s lap.

Willow looked around. “... Where?”

Boscha groaned. “Right  _ here _ you dumbass.” She reached over and grabbed the waist strap that was hanging off the side of Willow’s seat. Holding it up for Willow to see first, she buckled the girl in. Willow blushed. “You sure I don’t need to explain things to you like a baby?” Boscha asked, turning her head away so Willow wouldn’t see that she was also quite red in the face.

Soon enough, the ride started. It was slow at first since they were going up a hill, but by the top, Boscha had her hands up and was ready to go down screaming. The rollercoaster lurched forward and there was a split second of silence before the momentum made them come crashing down. Boscha was yelling and hollering as the wind hit her face and her arms flapped in the air. By the time they were done, she looked over to Willow who was gripping the sides of her seat.

“Geez was it that bad?” Boscha laughed.

“N-no! I just need to get used to the feeling…” Willow said as she took a deep shaky breath and unbuckled to get out. She was silent after. Boscha furrowed her brows worriedly and quickly got out of her seat to chase after her.

“Hey hey, nerd, you okay?” Boscha placed a hand on Willow’s shoulder and turned her around. Willow was holding herself. Her jaw was clenched and her eyes were wide. She looked petrified.

“Y-yeah… I just… I got scared. It felt like my stomach dropped…” Willow shuddered.

“Yeah, that’s the best part! The thrill!” Boscha shook her hands in excitement but stopped upon seeing Willow look of discomfort. “We… we can go do a different ride?” Boscha suggested. This time with a little more concern in her voice. A little softer and a little more vulnerable.

“No no, i’ll be okay. Let’s do the rollercoasters! You seem to like those.”

Boscha scoffed. “Willow this isn’t about me.” Willow raised an eyebrow at that statement. It was very… un-Boscha like. “I got the tickets so you could experience the amusement park…” Boscha said shyly. “So we do… whatever you want…”

Willow smiled softly at Boscha. The pink-haired girl ran a hand through her and looked away. Something in her wanted to tell Willow it was going to be okay. She didn’t know exactly how to express it… but the caring feeling was still there. “Listen… rollercoasters are scary shit, don’t get me wrong.” Boscha started hesitantly. “Y’know… when I was younger I was scared of them too. I  _ hated _ that gut dropping feeling that you got. And it doesn’t go away which is the hard part… but…” Boscha took a deep breath.

“But you learn to let go of your fear and use it as… excitement. As courage to go again. I don’t know if that came out right I-” Boscha quickly tried to catch herself as she felt she was stumbling through her trying to explain this. Why couldn’t she just tell Willow it was okay and move onto the next ride?

“I understand what you mean Boscha.” Willow smiled. She grabbed Boscha’s hand and led her to another line, this one for a bigger roller coaster. “I guess the only way to get over my fear is to go on more rides!”

Boscha smirked. “Yeah…” She wondered if her advice for Willow could be applied to her own fear about this whole “not-date” situation.

Eventually they got to the front of the line. Boscha glanced at Willow. The girl was shaking a little but the adorable look of determination on her face made Boscha smile to herself.

“You gonna be okay?” Boscha asked quietly.

Willow took a deep breath as she stepped up to the ride. “Y-yeah!”

“Okay then… just so you know, this one turns.”

“Wait what.”

But it was too late. The two girls were strapped in and the ride had begun. It seemed to be just a fun and relatively tame ride. But as the girls got higher up they saw the fun twist Boscha was talking about. Willow thought she was ready this time. She told herself that she knew what to expect and reassured herself that it would be okay. Although, she kept her hands tightly on the sides of her seat. Up… up… up… higher and higher. Boscha smirked as she let her hands roam free in the air, ready to have some fun.

The rollercoaster plummeted and to Willow’s surprise, it started to spin around! Boscha was hooting and hollering again but Willow thought she was gonna be sick. She lot her grip on her seat and the dizziness got to her. She felt herself cling to the nearest thing to her. Boscha. The two spun around like that in the ride until the end. Boscha immediately stopped screaming once she realized how close and how soft Willow was. The poor girl was clinging tightly to Boscha, messing up her nice black button up. Boscha didn’t care though, all she could feel was ants on her face as she struggled to breath. Not because Willow was basically suffocating her in the biggest bear hug of all time, but because Boscha simply couldn’t handle how close Willow was to her face.

Once Willow opened her eyes and saw that the ride was over, she flushed and quickly pulled away from Boscha.

“S-sorry! Sorry! I guess I wasn’t ready for that one after all” Willow laughed awkwardly. She started to speed walk away from the ride. Boscha giggled since her little embarrassed run-walk was adorable.

“Hey, it’s ok! I had fun and can tell you just can’t get enough of  _ me  _ huh?” Boscha teased, loosening up a bit more. Willow laughed with her, making Boscha beam like a dog at being able to make Willow smile.

“More rides! I promise i’ll get used to it! The fear shall be no more once we’re through with this amusement park!” Willow proclaimed heroically. Boscha was smiling from ear to ear at Willow’s goofy antics. She felt herself relax. She stood up tall and rolled her shoulders back. She felt… comfortable. She trusted Willow. A thought in the back of her head persisted but she still shook it off.

  
  
  
  


The two went on more rides together and slowly but surely, Willow did get used to that gut dropping feeling while riding the roller coasters. Boscha even helped her put her hands up by holding one of them and reassuring her that she’d be okay. On a few of the rollercoasters, however, there were cameras that captured the best moments of the rides. On one ride in particular, Willow had been a little too nervous and had clung to Boscha, repeatedly telling her she was going to throw up. Boscha, of course, told her to get off of her so she wouldn’t get barfed on. Coincidentally, this happened right at the moment the camera was taking a photo of them. Afterwards the two girls had a good laugh about it and made sure to save the picture for safekeeping. Boscha led Willow through all of her favorite roller coasters while Willow picked a few that looked interesting to her. By the time they were finished with the roller coasters, it was already past sunset. 

The warm glow of the setting sun illuminated the growing darkness of the light as the moon came out. The night sky was clear and the stars sprinkled on top like freckles on a kids face. Willow and Boscha were just coming out of their last rollercoaster when they noticed.

“That was so awesome! I’m completely drenched!” Willow exclaimed. They had saved the water roller coaster for last since they didn’t want to be sopping wet for the other roller coasters. Boscha smiled to herself as she thought about the day. She was so proud of how Willow was able to overcome her fear in only a matter of hours. The girl was brimming with excitement and the night didn’t seem to slow her down.  _ Maybe I can do the same… _ Boscha thought. 

“Hey, why don’t we go get some cotton candy-” Boscha started, nervously rubbing her neck which was starting to sweat again.

“Boscha! Look! It’s so pretty!” Willow interjected.

She was pointing to the sky. But what caught Boscha’s eye was the glowing ferris wheel just below the sky. The neon lights illuminated the night and gave Bosch an idea.

“L-let’s go on the ferris wheel!” Boscha blurted out. She clasped her hands to her mouth, immediately regretting her decision.

Willow smiled. “Yes!! Let’s do it!” Willow grabbed Boscha’s hand and started to pull her in the direction of the ferris wheel.

At the base of the ferris wheel was a relatively short line of people waiting to get in. Boscha immediately noticed all of the couples in line who were holding hands and kissing. She looked up at the ferris wheel and watched several couples embrace each other or do something romantic in the cars. Boscha gulped.  _ Now or never… _

The two girls made it to the front and entered one of the cars. They sat on the same side and stayed silent for most of the ride. As the car got higher and higher Boscha felt her stomach lurch. She wondered if she had enough courage to do what she wanted to do. She was perplexed as to why she was so distraught over Willow. How could she become so fragile around her. Up… up… up… higher and higher. The two stared out at the ground below them and all the little people walking around the amusement park. The neon lights of the roller coasters made the whole scene look wild and crazy. But at the very top was the best view.

“Oh my god, Boscha! This is so cool! It’s beautiful!” Willow exclaimed, leaning over to look at the view. Boscha smiled as she stared at Willow’s excited face. The lights shone on her, making her burst with different colors. Boscha felt her chest tighten. She held her breath and scooted closer to Willow.

Willow turned around and met Boscha just inches away from her face. She laughed nervously and scrunched up her skirt with her hands. “Hey… I just wanted to thank you for this. It was… really sweet of you. I like that side of you… I mean- I like  _ all _ sides of you. It just stood out so I really appreciate it and uh… yeah!” Willow stared into Boscha’s eyes. The ferris wheel shifted as it began its descent. Time seemed to stop. Hearts beat harder.

“Willow I-”

_ Bzzt bzzt. Bzzt bzzt. _

Willow took her phone out of the pocket of her skirt and opened her texts. Her eyes widened as she looked to Boscha.

“Amity is out of surgery! Ed and Em say she’s supposed to wake up tomorrow! Hopefully!”

Boscha leaned back, letting go of her breath. She looked outside as the ferris wheel car they were in reached the ground. “T-that’s great!” Of course Boscha was happy to hear that her best friend was okay. But she couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling she had and disappointment she felt as she got out of the ferris wheel car with Willow.

“Well, it’s pretty late so we should get home. Thank you again Boscha, I really enjoyed it. Let’s hang out again some time!” Willow said as she started to walk away.

Boscha bit her lip. Her chest tightened and she struggled to think. She decided to act on impulse and took Willow’s hand, pulling her back. “Wait!”

“... yes?” Willow asked, raising an eyebrow. “What is it?”

Boscha couldn’t find the right words. She wanted to say that throughout the day all she could think about was how effortlessly Willow charged into her fears and Boscha really admired that. She wanted to say that she wanted to overcome her own fear and wanted to thank Willow for helping her. She wanted to say that on the ferris wheel she actually wanted to tell her she liked her. She wanted to take a chance and be vulnerable. She wanted to dive head first into her fear like Willow did. But the words caught in her throat. “I-I...I” Was all Boscha could muster up. Her shoulders tensed and her stomach churned. Suddenly, she could feel the fear creep in. Her eyes darted around. She felt like a frail piece of paper in a storm. She didn’t like feeling this undone, this open, this-

“Boscha? Boscha! What’s going on? Talk to me…” Willow was holding Boscha’s hands now. That once excited and beaming face was replaced by a face of worry. Boscha took a deep breath.  _ Turn that fear into courage. _

“I… I wanted to… er, do something… on the ferris wheel.”

“Oh! Did you leave something? Want me to come with you?”

“No! No.. no… it’s not that…” Boscha wished she could just say or do whatever she wanted to do. Whatever this feeling in her chest and her gut wanted to do. How did Willow make it look so easy.

“Is it a surprise? I like surprises! As long as it’s not a bad kind of surprise… but i’m sure it’s not if it’s you Boscha. Soooo what is it? What? What?” Willow knew in her heart what Boscha wanted to do. She knew the pink haired girl just needed a little bit of a push. Willow kept trying to push Boscha’s buttons to hopefully bring out that stubbornness she knew so well. Of course she loved this sweet and caring and nervous side of Boscha, but it wasn’t helping all the time Boscha was wasting agonizing over just doing what she wanted to do.

“Oh my  _ god _ shut up, shut uppp!” Boscha whined as Willow started to poke her in the side. “What are you even doing?? Hey, hey! Cut it out! That tickles!”

Willow smirked and gave Boscha a knowing look. Boscha scoffed and placed a hand over Willow’s eyes, making sure not to touch her glasses since she didn’t want to smudge them.

“Don’t look at me like that you weirdo…” Boscha said. Thank god she was covering Willow’s eyes. Boscha was as red as a tomato. You could even say as pink as her hair. “Listen… d-do you trust me…?” Boscha asked.

“Of course I do.” Willow said softly. She felt a breath on her own face. Boscha’s voice was now much closer.

“C-can I?” Boscha asked nervously.

Willow giggled. “Yes.”

It was short but sweet. Willow couldn’t see it, but she could feel the soft lips touch her own only for a brief second before pulling away. A simple gesture. Boscha took her hand off of Willow’s eyes. Willow giggled at Boscha who was covering her face with her hands and turned away so Willow couldn’t see.

“Hey…” Willow reached up and took Boscha’s hands, revealing her crimson face. She got up on her toes and pecked the pink haired girl on the cheek.

Willow smiled as she looked right into Boscha’s eyes, making sure to show Boscha that she meant what she was about to say.

“I like you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will be out on Monday I promise! We'll revisit Amity at the hospital ;) Also! Thank you for 1k followers on Instagram!!! The 1k Instagram live stream will be on Tuesday 10/27/20 at 3 pm PST in the USA! It'll only be an hour but tune in to ask questions about the Actor AU :D I would love to see y'all!! Have a good day! Eat something, drink water, and sleep more hours tonight! Take care of yourselves!


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amity wakes up :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So honestly I love to write Amity's character so I didn't want her to be stuck out of commission for longer than two weeks. Let's say that the Blight parents paid the hospital a lot of money to have Amity's surgery be first priority. Also a bit of a shorter chapter this time (3k words, which is still a lot but the past few chapters have been 4k or 5k words, so in comparison, this felt shorter)
> 
> Anyways, enjoy! 
> 
> PLEASE READ NOTES AT END

A quiet beep could be heard in the empty darkness that Amity found herself in. She stood in a hospital gown, alone in the center of a pitch-black room. The beeping was faint but Amity could tell which direction it came from. She felt a warm tingle come to her body. She was waking up.

She felt her bare feet hit the cold floor as she tried to run towards the sound. Every time her weight pressed against the ground her body seemed to send sharp electric shocks through her. She kept running. Eventually, she could see a light. The light grew brighter and brighter and she stood still. She was scared for a moment, holding her breath but finding that she had no breath to hold. She watched as the light engulfed her and surprisingly, a pleasant feeling came over her. She closed her eyes and sunk into it.

“Am? Amity?”

Heavy eyelids opened. The blinding hospital lights and all the white that enhanced it made Amity close them again. She groaned. Her body felt thick and syrupy like molasses. Her mouth was dry and tasted horrible. How long has she been out? What was the last thing she remembered?

“Mittens? Can you hear us? Do you know who we are??”

Amity slowly tried to open her eyes again, that same grogginess washing over her. A girl was standing over her with tears in her golden eyes. She had a mole on her cheek and her hair was forest green and braided down her back. She was covering her mouth now as she gasped. Her eyes widened and darted to look at the boy in the room who had similar green hair.

“Don’t tell me this is one of those cliche fanfics where she forgot who we are…” The boy said half worriedly.

Amity was now adjusting to the light. She tried to tilt her head a little to take in her surroundings but was met with a sharp pain in her neck. She winced, calling the attention of the twins in the room. The girl lightly placed a hand on Amity’s shoulder while the boy looked down with a concerned expression, his mouth slightly open in disbelief.

“Amity be careful! You just had surgery!”

As her brain started to function again she felt a little more awake with every passing second. She opened her mouth to speak but only felt air come out. She struggled to make sounds but eventually formed her lips to say something, anything.

“S… sur… surger- surgery?” She said slowly. Her jaw clenched as that sharp pain found its way back. She tried to relax and look wherever lying still would allow her to look. Her eyes were fully open now and recognizing some faces. “E… Ed and… Em…” She said slowly, making sure not to move her jaw too much.

Emira was crying now. Tears were coming down her face. “Thank god… Thank god Edric! She didn’t lose her memory!”

“Darn and I wanted her to forget all those pranks we set up for her when she got home.” Emira lightly slapped Edric’s arm. She gave him a scowl and pointed a finger in his face.

“Not the best time for jokes.”

“Right right, sorry,” Edric said nervously laughing. He was clearly afraid of the wrath Emira could bring down on him while she was worried about Amity.

Emira turned her focus back to the young bedridden actress. She took a deep breath and wiped away some tears. Reaching out to hold Amity’s limp hand, she hesitated as she looked at the small healed over cuts that have now turned into faint scars. They were not very noticeable to a tv audience, but to a worried older sister they looked like war wounds.

“Amity… do you remember what happened?”

Amity sat for a second, trying to collect her thoughts. She felt so out of it that her thoughts weren’t stringing together into coherent sentences. She could only think in fragments right now. Slowly, bits and pieces of the story came back to her.

“Y… yeah…” Amity struggled to say. She would wink in pain every once in a while from the discomfort in her neck. “I… went to… see Luz… L-Luz? Luz! LUZ!” Amity exclaimed, her eyes widened at first but squeezed shut at the jolt through her. Despite it, she immediately tried to sit up in the bed only for her to collapse back down from the crushing ache in her sides. She yelped in agony as she moved her once sedentary hand to clutch her sides, tensing up in pain. The heart rate monitor began to speed up. Ed and Em quickly pressed her down so she’d stop squirming and making the pain worse.

“Amity calm down, calm down. The doctor said you broke some of your ribs! You have to relax!” Ed yelled.

Amity took a few quick sharp deep breaths. Her chest rose and fall with each one and her eyes were still squeezed shut as she tried to ride the pain out. The heart rate monitor slowed again and Ed and Em took their hands off of Amity. Amity was impatient and started to try and talk.

“L-Luz… Bec, I- the car, sh-she had a knife! Chasing… I-”

“Amity Amity it’s ok, you’re safe, you’re safe,” Ed said trying to reassure Amity who seemed to be wide awake now and panicking. Amity took some more deep breaths and laid her head back.

“W… why does my- my neck hurt s- so much?” She struggled to get out.

“When you got hit, you damaged your spine dangerously close to your brain stem. The doctors needed to perform careful surgery to save you. You could have died if they weren’t so quick to operate on you. Now explain what Bec has to do with this?” Emira said.

“Slowly Amity, take your time, don’t rush it,” Edric added on.

Amity furrowed her brows and looked to Em and Ed. “I’ve… told you… before… about my-” Amity winced. Ed and Em quickly held her hand and told her she was doing great. “M-my concerns… about Bec…”

Ed and Em nodded, hanging onto every word. “She went crazy… a-and… chased me… with a knife!” Amity turned her head but groaned when it only landed her more neck pain. Taking a second to let the feeling pass, Amity continued. “I… was able to… disarm her… but… she ran into- i- into the street… “

“And so you pushed her out of the way and took the hit instead,” Edric said quietly. He was shocked. “Why the fuck would you do that Am… you… you could have died!!”

“And because of someone who was trying to hurt you!” Emira added in.

“I know I know!” Amity strained. “I- i’m not sure why… I would do it… but… something in… me… knew that even if… she tried to hurt… me… she still… didn’t deserve… to die” Amity finally finished.

“That’s really all selfless and all that but that doesn’t make up for the fact that you threw yourself in danger without thinking,” Edric said.

“A… are you mad?” Amity asked. Her speaking was slowly getting better the more she got used to being awake again.

“Of course we’re not mad Am… we were just worried about you. Where is Bec? Can I beat her up?” Emira asked, cracking her knuckles.

“Even though… she probably deserves it, I- i want to try and talk to her… Luz told me about some… things… and- and I think she needs a wake-up call.” Amity said, worried what the twins would say.

“O… okay Amity. If that’s what you really want. But Em and I will be there to protect you if something happens, okay?” Edric also cracked his knuckles and looked to his sister who nodded her head.

“That’s probably a good idea… where is my phone? I should text Luz.” Amity said, trying to sit up and feel around her bed.

“We’re not sure where your phone is. When Ed and I same to get your stuff, they had everything but your phone. You can use mine though if you want.” Emira handed her phone to Amity who weakly held it up to her face to tap out a message.

She pulled up Luz’s contacts.

_ Emira: Hey Luz, it’s Amity! I couldn’t find my phone so I'm on Emira’s. I promise this isn’t Emira pranking you again. _

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Luz was walking home from the studio when she felt her phone buzz in her pocket. She pulled it out and saw a text from Amity.

_ Amity: How was set? I miss it so much :( _

Luz smiled a little. She always loved to text Amity. Her heart seemed to beat a little faster and she felt a giddy feeling in her chest. She couldn’t wait to see the girl again once she got out of the hospital. They would text every day after Luz was done filming. Luz gripped her phone as she tapped out a response. She bit her lip as she thought to herself. Being away from Amity made Luz realize how much she enjoyed her company. How much she… liked Amity. She thought about all the time's Amity was there for Luz and how comfortable she felt with Amity. Luz had considered her own feelings about the leaked Grom photos but was still scared to ask Amity about it. It didn’t seem like a topic Amity wanted to discuss quite yet as she was probably dealing with recovery things. Just as Dana had advised her… Luz thought about what her next step would be. How she was going to address the problem.

She knew the press was just as fierce as ever but that never stopped Luz from feeling like she had to limit herself. She wanted to do what she wanted from now on. She was tired of feeling controlled by Bec and she was proud of herself for finally realizing how bad that was for her. She knew it was all because of Amity in the end. _ Amity… _ she thought to herself. She always found herself thinking about Amity. Luz knew why now… she had had enough time to take it in and finally accept it. But she was scared to know if Amity felt the same way… she had been acting a little colder lately. Luz hoped it wasn’t because of the dance photos.

While in her thoughts she felt the phone buzz again in her hand. It was a text from Emira this time. Intrigued, Luz opened the message. Her eyes scanned and slowly read the text before widening in confusion.

_ Emira: Hey Luz, it’s Amity! I couldn’t find my phone so I'm on Emira’s. I promise this isn’t Emira pranking you again. _

_ Luz: … Emira I know this is you. As convincing as you’re making it, Amity has already texted me. Nice try though haha _

Luz laughed it off. She assumed it was just Emira and Edric trying to mess with her again. They might have been annoyed that Luz was bent on proving Amity was okay and awake and this could be their way of mocking her or something. Luz wasn’t sure but she felt she needed a reason for the uneasiness in her chest that she felt.

Another text.

_ Emira: What are you talking about? I don’t have my phone. I just woke up at the hospital. _

Now Luz was really confused. She started to write out another text to Emira but was interrupted by a reply from Amity.

_ Amity: I’m glad you had a good time. It’s boring in the hospital. Have you talked to Bec recently? _

Things weren’t making sense. Emira was doing a really good Amity impression and Luz was wary of her just playing a prank on Luz. But at the same time, Amity has been texting in a strange way in the past two weeks and Luz had tried to push it out of her mind but the thought was always there. She decided to ask both Amitys a question and see who got it right.

_ Luz: No I haven’t talked to Bec recently, by the way, did you ever get my gift? _

Luz sent the text first to the person under the Amity contact name. Next, she sent one to the person texting her under Emira’s name.

_ Luz: If it’s really you Amity, do you remember what I got you as a gift at the plaza? Boscha came to your house to give it to you. _

A little bit of waiting and Amity had responded, at least, the person who was using Amity’s phone.

_ Amity: Awww you got me a gift? Did you send it recently? Because I don’t seem to have it. What was it? _

Luz stopped in her tracks. If this Amity didn’t know what Luz got her… does that mean-

_ Bzzt bzzt _

Luz quickly opened the new notification from Emira.

_ Emira: I don’t have proof, because I ate it all, but the bunny shaped cheesecake was very thoughtful :) Thank you… and I love the hair clip, I kept it with me in the accident. _

Luz smiled. There’s the Amity she knew. Luz felt like she could hear her sweet voice in her head saying those words. What Luz wouldn’t give to see her. Her heart fluttered as she tapped out a response.

_ Luz: Glad to see it’s you Amity :D Sorry about that, someone has been texting me using your phone _

_ Emira: Well that explains why I can’t find it. It’s not the twins so i’m assuming it’s Bec. _

_ Luz: Why Bec? Also, wanna call? I haven’t heard your voice in a while and I miss it :) _

Amity blushed as she agreed to call. Ed and Em raised their eyebrows at their flustered sister. Amity slowly brought the phone up to her ear, her arms still a little sore from minor injuries to them. Most of the impact of the car had hit her torso, hips, and head.

“Luz…?”

“AMITYYY!!!!” Luz screamed, causing Amity to hold the phone a little farther from her ear.

She giggled. “It’s good to hear from you too Luz.” She said with a warm smile. It felt like a fire was burning in her heart. The kind that made her have adrenaline and a certain giddiness.

“So what’s this about Bec?” Luz asked, changing her tone to seem a little more cautious.

“I had run into her at the police station… I… I was coming to check on you…” Amity said shyly.

Luz felt her face heat up. She felt that same giddiness in her chest. She smiled into the phone, tensing up her body from happiness. She hadn’t felt like this in a while, even while texting the fake Amity. It only proved that this Amity was the real deal.

“Thank you Am… that means a lot that you were thinking of me…” Luz said, equally as shy and nervous.

“To be honest… i’m always thinking of you Luz… I care about you so much” Amity said. She felt so strongly about this for some reason. She wanted to mend some wounds Bec caused for Luz. She wanted Luz to know that she deserves to be cared for and looked after because people genuinely love her.

Luz placed a hand over her face. Even though Amity wasn’t there, she felt the need to cover how crazy that made her feel. The things it did to Luz that were embarrassing to Luz but that Amity would probably find adorable. “I care about you too Amity! God, I was so worried about you!”

“Well, I’m okay, so don’t worry too much,” Amity said with a smile. Ed and Em were off to the side listening to the conversation on Amity’s end. They gave each other a look and whispered over to Amity.

“Hey you useless lesbian, get back to the story!” Emira whisper shouted.

Amity rolled her eyes. “Anyways, Bec was white-hot mad and decided to take it out on me. Something about how I stole you from her or something. And she had a knife!”

Luz was now angry. She clenched her phone in her hand and gritted her teeth. “Did she hurt you?? I swear to god I will-”

Amity blushed at how protective Luz was. “She didn’t end up hurting me, don’t worry. I was able to disarm her by getting behind her and knocking her on the ground.”

Luz took a sigh of relief. “Damn right! There’s that badass Amity I know!” Luz said, hyping Amity up.

Amity giggled. “Thanks, Luz. She was able to get away though but ran right into the street. I ran and saved her without thinking.”

Luz let that sink in for a moment. She took a deep breath. “Thank you Amity. I’m just glad that you’re okay and that Bec didn’t get killed either. She… has some problems.”

“I agree, Luz. I wanted to talk to you about that actually- HEY LUZ!” Luz could hear Edric cut into their conversation. In the background, a struggling Amity seemed to be trying to get the phone back.

Luz laughed. “Hi Ed, what’s up?”

“Well, Em and I were thinking we could get you into the hospital so you two could be reunited! They haven’t been letting any visitors in unless they’re family but y’know Luz later down the line technically you’d be my sister in l- EDRIC!” Luz laughed harder at Amity’s high pitched voice yelling over Ed. She sounded so cute when she was embarrassed. That’s what Luz loved about the twins. They brought out Amity’s more amusing side that Luz always found adorable.

The sibling bickering continued on before they both yelled at Emira who seemed to have taken the phone while they were arguing. “Sorry about them Luz, basically, we can sneak you into the hospital late tonight if you want?”

“Yes! I want to see Amity again!” Luz said determinedly. 

“Then wait for us outside of your house at midnight tonight,” Emira said with a smirk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a little check-up chapter :D I promise the next one will be hella Lumity driven. Also, I know a lot of people expected Bec to do some kind of extra terrible thing but to be honest, she's not doing too well in the head right now so she didn't think through her plans. You can think of this as the start of the end of Bec's arc. Also shoutout to h3lp_lol for guessing spot on what my plan was!! She's been really good at predicting the plot, it's always fun to hear her thoughts in my Instagram dms. If you guys want to tell me your theories feel free to dm me! Also check her out on Instagram (same username) she made so awesome special effects makeup of Bec!
> 
> (PLEASE READ)
> 
> The 1k followers live stream is TOMORROW!! Tuesday 10/27/20 at 3 pm PST on INSTAGRAM at Keysstylus !!! I'll be drawing requests from you guys, answering questions about the Actor AU, and more! I will also be trying to respond to comments more! I got behind on them but from now on I'll try to stay on top of it! I like interacting with you guys!


	26. Chapter 26

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ed and Em sneak Luz into the hospital to see Amity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all will like this one ;) PLEASE READ NOTES AT THE END

Luz stood outside of her house, clutching a small bag. Her palms sweated as she peered over her shoulder back at the house. Her mother was already asleep so sneaking out wasn’t hard. However, sneaking out in the first place made Luz remember her experiences doing the same thing with Bec when they were in middle school. She even used the same window that she used to climb out of when she snuck out with Bec. Luz looked forward and out at the empty street. The night was dark and the moonlight lended her no help in feeling better. Although she was nervous about repeating actions she did with Bec with Ed and Em, she reminded herself that the reasons were different. That always seemed to be a fun topic to delve into. Is sneaking out against your mother’s word okay if it’s to check on a close friend in the hospital? Luz bit her lip. Or are her motivations not so pure? What if Luz only wants to go because she can’t help but think of Amity constantly.

Recently it’s felt like Amity can’t get out of Luz’s head. She feared that she had been so dependent on Bec for so long that now that she doesn’t have Bec anymore, she began pushing that onto Amity. Luz desperately didn’t want to burden Amity with that. But in Luz’s heart, it felt different. Again, going back to reasons for her actions, Luz wasn’t depending on Amity because she’s the only one she has. She did that with Bec because she didn’t have Willow or Gus or Eda or Ed and Em. Actually, it’s having a larger support system that helped her get out of Bec’s hands. No, this is different. Luz _wanted_ to hang out with Amity whenever she could because of the weird feeling in her chest. That fuzzy fluttery emotion she’d find herself in whenever she talked to the girl.

Luz laughed to herself. “I really can’t deny it anymore, can I?” She really admired Amity. Truly. There was something in her that wanted to make sure Amity knew how inspiring she was to Luz. Luz wanted Amity to see herself and… love herself the way Luz loved her and saw her.

_Love…_ Luz thought to herself. _Those rom coms got it so wrong…_ Luz was right. Love wasn’t some sort of instant emotion that constantly makes you happy. Love can make you hellishly worried, go insane even. It can cause you to hurt because the person you love is hurting. Maybe that’s why Luz was so scared to embrace this feeling she had for Amity. She told herself it was because she was busy with Bec, and maybe Bec’s influence did have a hand in her pushing down those emotions. But Luz knew she was just afraid to admit that she loved Amity. The question was, did Amity like her or _love_ her. Was Amity feeling the same way Luz is feeling? So… confused and awkward but determined and peaceful…

“Luz. Luz Noceda.” Luz snapped her head up and saw Emira’s eye staring at her. “You’ve been standing here for like five minutes staring into space. Is it too late? Do you wanna sleep?”

_Maybe i’m just tired…_ Luz thought to herself. She yawned but shook her head. “No no! I’m okay! Sorry about that, let’s go!”

Emira smirked and walked back over to the car which Ed was driving. It was an even nicer car than Amity’s. A convertible with the top down. Ed had an arm hanging over the side lazily as he smiled and held up a peace sign, which Luz returned. They giggled to each other and Emira rolled her eyes. Luz got into the back seat while Emira sat in the passenger seat. Once buckled in, the three started on their way to the hospital. Ed’s phone had been plugged into the sound system so a random song from the music on his phone started playing.

_All I am, is a man, I want the world, in my hands-_

“No. No. No. Ed I swear to god if I hear Sweater Weather _one_ more time I will throw your phone out of the car!!” Emira yelled, quickly disconnecting Ed’s phone.

Edric laughed, taking one hand off the wheel to hold up to his mouth. “Oh come on, just one more time!”

“You have it on repeat!! You’ve listened to it plenty of times! Do you ever get bored of it??”

Luz chimed in. “Of course not! Sweater Weather is a bisexual culture _staple_! It’s just that good!”

Emira rolled her eyes and connected her phone to the car. She opened up the music app on her phone and displayed it on the car’s touchscreen so she could see it better. As she scrolled through her saved playlists, one caught Luz’s eye.

_FOR VINEY <3 _

Luz gasped. “Do you have a thing for Viney??”

Emira tensed up, but relaxed as soon as she remembered it was just Luz. She looked over to Edric who gave her a look asking her if it was okay. Emira nodded. Edric smiled and looked at Luz through his overhead mirror of the car.

“Oh she doesn’t just have a thing for Viney! Emira?” Edric said, nodding to Em.

“We’re… we’re dating…” Emira said shyly.

“WHAAAA??” Luz screamed. The sound spread through the night and got taken by the wind. Luz squealed and flapped her hands in excitement. “I called it!! Totally shipped you guys from your guys’ interaction that one day on set.”

Emira laughed nervously. “We had been dating prior to that… um, Luz? Could you not tell anyone please? Viney and I want it to be more private…”

“Oh totally! Don’t worry I respect that. May I ask why? Are your guys’ parents like homophobic or something?”

“Oh god no! Mom and dad were wary at first but ended up not really caring, surprisingly. It’s actually quite a funny story” Emira said, lightly laughing to herself.

Edric cut in. “Emira came out to everyone first and once our parents were even a little unsupportive, Amity came out too to defend Em. It was hilarious, dad was like ‘Does _anyone_ in this house like boys??’ and so I stood up and came out too.”

That got the whole car laughing. The mood lightened a little, allowing Luz to feel comfortable asking more questions. She hoped not to overstep any boundaries. “So then… why keep it a secret?”

“Well… sometimes fans get a little too involved with your personal life. It really depends on the person but I like my personal life and work life kept separate.”

“Does it ever get… tiring? To keep someone you love hidden from the people who adore you?” Luz asked.

“Sometimes. I think i’m a little selfish in the sense that I want Viney all to myself. Not in a possessive way or anything, she’s just that special to me. But hey, the world is changing. I think you and Amity’s generation could be the ones to normalize that kind of stuff. But like I said, it’s entirely up to the person.” Emira gave Luz a wink which made Luz think that Em knew why Luz was asking. As much as she would want to play it safe and keep her feelings for Amity under wraps, she knew that she would have trouble staying silent about her adoration for the girl. She took Emira’s words to heart. She needed to talk to Amity about this tonight.

“Thanks Em” Luz said with a smile.

“No problem, Luz” Emira chose a throwback playlist and the three sung the rest of the way to the hospital. Luz was having a great time. The cold LA night and the wind blowing through her hair made for a truly exceptional experience. There was something so magical about 1 am car rides. It let Luz take her mind off of her racing thoughts about Amity.

  
  
  
  
  


Eventually they had driven a good distance to the hospital. Edric parked the car and Em took Luz around the back of the building to sneak her in.

“Now, there’s a blind spot right here where the security cameras can’t see you. Ed and I will give you a boost up to the second story window. It goes to a break room that always has the window slightly ajar. Amity’s room should be just across from it.” Emira said, pointing to the window.

“How do you know all of this??” Luz asked panickedly.

“We have our secrets” Ed said with a wink.

“Are you sure this is legal? Are we going to get in trouble? How do you know we can reach that window??”

“Honestly, we don’t know. But Ed and I’s combined height plus yours should get us there.” Emira said as she gestured for Luz to get on her shoulders. Once Luz was on safely, she proceeded to get on Edric’s shoulders. Luz had to remind herself to not look down because Ed and Em were right, she was almost 12 feet above the ground now!

“Don’t worry Luz, we’ve got you! We did cheer team for like a year!” Edric whisper shouted up to Luz. The weight of the two girls was crushing him a little but he tried to stand tall and stable.

“That helps so much!” Luz whisper shouted back sarcastically. She focused on the window. Pushing it open a little more, she held onto the windowsill and pushed her way in. Emira shoved her from behind, causing Luz to come crashing into the room.

Luz rubbed her back a little bit and checked to make sure the contents of her bag hadn’t spilled before looking out the window to see Emira holding a thumbs up.

“Hey Luz! You should probably tell her soon! Now would be a perfect time!” Emira yelled as she got off of Edric’s shoulders and started to walk back to the car.

Luz flushed and bit her lip. Well, she was already here. No turning back now.

  
  
  
  
  


Emira smiled to herself as she let out a breath of relief.

“You okay?” Edric asked, noticing his sister’s sigh.

“She makes me think of myself.”

“That’s such a sisterly thing to say.”

“No, i’m serious! She’s like how I was when Viney and I started dating… sometimes I wonder what would have happened if I had just loosened up and allowed us to be public. Viney is so nice to me and went along with me but what if that’s not what she really wants? I know she worries about me and she’s so selfless, maybe I should talk to her…”

Ed put an arm around Em and gave her a nudge. “Well, it’s like you said to Luz. It’s ultimately up to both of you. Talking is a great start Em.”

“I was just so scared when I was younger that something bad would happen. Mom and dad always preach drawing as little unneeded attention towards yourself as possible, I guess they rubbed off on me after all.” Em said through exasperated laughs.

“Hey hey” Ed said as he rubbed small circles on Em’s back. “Again, like you said to Luz, the world is changing. And just like how the world changes, you change too. If this is a change you’re comfortable with and want to do, then go for it!”

Emira smiled. “Yeah… maybe that’s why I encouraged Luz just now. I hope things work out for those two.”

“Well we’ll know soon if we hear Amity flatline from an overdose of gay panic.”

  
  
  
  
  
  


Luz pushed open the door to Amity’s room. She found Amity laying in the hospital bed, peaceful, quiet, and still. Only the rise and fall of her chest and the sound of breathing coming from her slightly parted lips. Luz felt her face heat up.

_How does she look so pretty even while she’s sleeping?_

Luz stepped a little closer to Amity and inspected the bandages wrapped around parts of her arms and the various tubes attached to her skin, keeping her alive, healthy, and stable. Luz frowned at the pale color on Amity’s hands. In her head, Luz cursed Bec out for doing this to someone as sweet and innocent as Amity. She reached out her hand and lightly touched Amity’s open palm. She was surprised to see Amity’s fingers move and grasp her own. With a gasp, Luz quickly looked over to Amity’s face. She was met with those golden eyes she loved so much, crinkled at the ends from a wide smile.

“Okay so I wasn’t really sleeping, i’ll admit.” Amity said nervously.

“Amity! Did you stay up all night for me??” Luz gripped Amity’s hand and squeezed it a little as she spoke.

Amity struggled to chuckle, feeling a slight pain in her side. “Of course I did, it’s you! And well, I'd been practically sleeping for, what? Two weeks? No way am I tired now. God, I feel like sleeping beauty!”

“Haha… yeah…” Luz turned her head a little to mask the smile on her face. She had been imagining Amity as an actual disney princess and the thought made her blush. “... but you should still sleep soon! I’ll be quick.” Luz let go of Amity’s hand and took out a container from her bag. It was still warm which made Luz smile. She showed Amity and gave her a straw.

“Soup?” Amity giggled. “How sweet of you… but why the straw?”

“I thought it’d be easier to drink it this way than with a spoon.”

“True” Amity said, taking a sip of the soup and sighing contently. “This is good! What kind?”

“It’s a family recipe, my mom would always make it for me when I was sick. I know this isn’t exactly the same but I hope it helps!”

Amity took another sip. The warmth spread through her body as she drank it. She smiled at Luz. “I love it, it helps a lot. Thank you, Luz.”

“No problem”

The two were silent for a moment as Amity kept taking small sips of the soup. Luz watched her with soft eyes. She giggled a little at Amity’s hair falling in front of her face every now and then. Amity had trouble lifting her arms enough to move it out of the way so Luz looked around. She grabbed the golden hair clip off of a side table in the room and returned to Amity.

Sitting down on the side of the bed, making sure not to hurt Amity, Luz leaned over and pinned Amity’s hair back. Luz felt that familiar heat rise on her cheeks as she stared at Amity. The hair clip looked good on her and complimented her eyes. Amity blushed too as she noticed how long Luz has been staring. Her mouth was open a little, entranced by Amity.

“Um… Luz?”

Once Luz had come back to her senses she remembered what she wanted to talk to Amity about. “Right uh sorry… was just… thinking. So… you know the Grom photos? Uh… the articles?”

“Oh… yeah…” Worry bubbled up in Amity. This is what she had been dreading. What would Luz say?

“How… how do you feel about it?” Luz asked, equally as nervous.

“It… doesn’t bother me _that_ much, the press will be the press. Um, what about you?”

“It doesn’t bother me either! Um… with that being said… how should we address it?” Luz clenched her jaw. This was it. If Amity wanted to address it by saying her and Luz were just friends, Luz knew how she felt. If not, Luz was willing to take a chance.

“I… um... “ Amity tried to find the right words. This time not because she was having trouble physically speaking, but because she didn’t know how to word this so she wouldn’t friendzone Luz. That was the last thing she wanted. She didn’t want Luz to think that she only thought of her as a friend. Amity knew that was not the case at all. She thought for a second. The delayed response made Luz hopeful.

“Well…” Amity started. “It’ll be interesting… because, um, Luz… I don’t see you as just a friend…” Amity said quietly. She turned her head away from Luz, bearing the pain from her neck and squeezing her eyes tight, waiting for a response. Amity didn’t know if she was ready to be rejected, but it was either she told Luz now, or told the world she didn’t love Luz that way and then turn around and tell Luz she actually did. She wanted to avoid that. Like her parents said, don’t call unnecessary attention to yourself.

The silence was deafening. It was excruciating and Amity opened her mouth to tell Luz it was okay if she didn’t feel the same. But she felt a pair of soft lips touch the back of her neck. It was right where her scar would form from her surgery. She flushed and turned around. Luz was rubbing her neck nervously and Amity could see a light tint of pink dusted across her cheeks in the dim hospital lights.

“I don’t see you as just a friend either grocery girl... “ Luz bit her lip and twiddled her thumbs as she waited for Amity to respond. “Sorry… I should have asked first, I uh, I just didn’t know how to let you know I was serious and um… meant it that way…”

Amity felt a few tears come to her eyes. Relief. She started to laugh, ignoring the pain in her ribs. “You… you dork! I understand what you meant, don’t worry.”

“Good” Luz said. She sighed a breath of relief which she thought was supposed to relieve the tension in her. However, there was a new tension there. The kind where you’re just so happy and excited that you feel like you’ve been compressed and could be shot out of a cannon. That was the other thing about love that Luz had to remind herself in order to take that leap.

Love can be a horrible feeling sometimes, but it’s not portrayed in those rom coms the way it is for nothing. There was a pureness to love. Those moments where you feel like you’re walking on air and like you could run a 5 mile race from the adrenaline. Even better, the moments where you feel the opposite, when you feel so happily calm and comfortable in the emotion. The feeling of love takes over your body and you realize you’ve never felt this happy before. The joy and comfort it brings you is enough to bring you to tears. Luz was close to tears. So was Amity.

“Why are you crying?” Amity asked worriedly.

Luz _was_ crying. But through it, she was smiling so wide. She wiped away the few tears that fell and looked at Amity who was also tearing up. “Why are _YOU_ crying?”

The two laughed at each other, enjoying this moment. Even if it was at nearly 2 am, the two girls let the time become an afterthought. All they could think about was each other.

“I’m just… so relieved is all.” Luz said finally. She held Amity’s hand and gripped it tight. “I’m so happy… I was so worried you wouldn’t feel the same way…”

“I’m so happy too Luz! Not gonna lie, I felt the same way. Both ways. The whole romance thing and the worry-”

“Haha I got it Am, save your strength. I don’t wanna make you too riled up, you’re still hurt after all.”

“Eh, it’s whatever. I would gladly laugh and smile with you, even if it hurt.” Amity said, squeezing Luz’s hand back.

“Well… if you want to, we could watch the new The Owl House episode? I have Disney NOW so it came out early!”

“Oh geez, isn’t this the last episode of season 1 A??”

“Yep! Don’t worry, Dana is super understanding. The hiatus will last as long as it needs for you to be able to recover.”

Amity grimaced at the thought of delaying filming. She knew in the end it was her fault for getting herself into trouble with Bec. Speaking of Bec…

“Hey Luz? Kind of off topic but… could we talk about Bec?”

“Right now?”

“Yeah… if you don’t mind.” Amity stopped squeezing Luz’s hand. “I think I should talk to her.”

“Sorry um… why?” Luz asked. She gave Amity a look as if she were asking if Amity was crazy.

“She clearly has some issues and I’ve given it some thought, and we aren’t that different, her and I. I think if she just had someone to show her that, she’d have a change of heart.”

Luz furrowed her brow. She had just gotten rid of her connection to Bec and now Amity wanted to reconnect it? Amity noticed Luz’s discomfort.

“I wanted to talk to you about it first since, after all, she hurt you and none of her personal issues excuse that. So if you believe she doesn’t deserve it, I’ll respect that and won’t reach out to her.” Amity said, rubbing circles on Luz’s hand.

Luz let out a sigh. “No… you’re right. I think it’d be good for her. She was good once… I think life just dealt her a bad hand and she didn’t know how to process it. What were you thinking?”

“Well, I am almost certain that she has my phone since she was the only one with me in the accident.”

“Yeah, she’s not very good at impersonating you. I fell for it like I fell for you and well, I become a little blind when it comes to you.” Amity blushed at that comment making Luz giggle. “She kept trying to get me to talk to her again through pretending she was you. Good plan, I mean, if you told me to go murder someone I would probably do it.”

“Luz!!”

“I would! Your wish is my command milady” Luz winked. Amity let out a yelp and covered her red face. Luz laughed again and reached up to uncover it. “No, don’t cover it! I think it’s cute!”

Amity felt like she was steaming now from how hot her face felt. “Geez okay okay I guess i’ll excuse it, but only because I said I would also murder for you.”

“Hell yeah! Murder girlfriends! Oh, sorry sorry, can I call you my girlfriend?”

Amity smiled. “Only if I can call you mine.”

Now it was Luz’s turn to blush. “Psh girls got game, okay okay” Luz laughed.

“What can I say? You’re rubbing off on me in all the best ways”

After a little more discussion of the plan to confront Bec, Luz and Amity agreed that Ed, Em, and Luz would be there in case Bec tried to hurt Amity again. They would have to do this once Amity was better physically of course since asking Bec to meet at the hospital would be a dead giveaway. That gave the girls some time to relax and enjoy each other’s company first.

As the morning drew closer, the two girls found each other laying in the hospital bed together. Luz was always careful not to roll over and hurt Amity which Amity found very sweet. The two watched the new episode on Luz’s phone, holding it above themselves so they could watch comfortably. Halfway through the episode, Amity noticed Luz starting to get drowsy. She would yawn more and more and almost dropped the phone on them once. Amity decided to take the phone from Luz and prop it up against the side of the bed so Luz wouldn’t have to hold it anymore. 

Luz snuggled into Amity’s shoulder, still making sure not to cause her any pain. Amity noticed and just smiled. She couldn’t believe that it worked out in the end. She watched as her girlfriend slowly fell asleep, her eyelids growing heavier until they shut fully. Amity ran a finger through Luz’s soft hair, pushing it back a little so Amity could see Luz’s adorable sleeping face. Soon enough, she was sleeping peacefully too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for coming to my live yesterday!! It was so fun and y'all are so nice T^T Ngl I was worried that my voice would sound weird. Also! Two important announcements:
> 
> IMPORTANT PLEASE READ  
> The next chapter will have an interview in it so put your questions for Luz, Dana, Alex, or Eda in the comments or dm me on Instagram! I also have a highlight on my profile titled "AA Interview" so you can submit more for future chapters!   
> Also, I am finally going to name this fic! And I need your help because I SUCK at titles, so please DON'T put your title idea in the comments, dm me on Instagram!! When I get enough I'll put a poll on my Instagram of my two favorite picks!
> 
> Thanks for reading the notes and remember to drink water, eat three meals a day minimum, and get good sleep! Take care of yourselves like Luz and Amity would talk care of each other (this is not a request it's a threat, SELF CARE!!)


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVE!!  
> Thank you for sending in all your questions! I'm sorry if I didn't get you, your question may have been asked already, or the answer was the same as a different question I had already answered! Everyone's usernames are bolded! The first half of this chapter is plot relevant and the second half is all about the interview! Including a guest appearance ;)

Luz began making daily trips to the hospital late at night using the methods Ed and Em taught her. She would bring Amity food and spend hours talking until they fell asleep together at night. At first, the two set up an alarm to go off so Luz could sneak back out before the doctors came for their first check. Visitors were still prohibited other than family due to Mr and Mrs Blight’s request of the hospital. The reporters didn’t seem to die down. Luz was finding it harder and harder to stay covered from the press. She would be walking to the studio or going out to eat and she’d get recognized and asked a million different questions. 

Luz was fine answering questions from fans, but not if they were all asking about Amity and her relationship or why Amity is in the hospital. Luz understood why the public wanted to know. It was important. A famous actor doesn’t just get sent to the hospital for no reason and isn’t heard from for weeks afterwards. Usually someone comes out and explains what happened. But the Blight parents were strict on their no media coverage policy. They were in denial that keeping themselves sheltered, only made the situation more interesting to everyone.

Eventually, however, the doctors caught Luz and Amity sleeping in Amity’s hospital bed. They were tangled in each other's limbs and faced one another. The doctors had said that sleeping like that was not good for Amity’s recovery and that they would need to do more physical therapy if they kept that up. Amity was saddened by this since she had just gotten to see Luz again, and even better started dating her, and now Luz was being taken away again. 

The doctors did fear the Blight parents, however, they understood why Amity wanted Luz there. It can get lonely in the hospital. Especially when everyone else in your family is too busy to visit you regularly. So the doctors decided to allow Luz to come every day at a set time as long as she snuck in from around the back and didn’t let anyone else in. The staff would hold off the reporters at the front of the hospital and the doctors would help Luz get in while they were distracted.

With this plan, Luz and Amity no longer had to stay up late at night to hang out. They could sleep better and Amity could have a quicker recovery. Amity always looked forward to Luz’s visits. Her parents had gotten her a new phone so for most of the day she just sat in her hospital room texting, looking through instagram, or ignoring emails from news outlets wanting to talk to her. She had a few hours spread throughout the day of physical therapy and different check ups by various nurses as well as breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Other than that, Amity only really perked up when Luz visited late in the day after she was done working at the studio.

Usually, Luz tells Amity about what she did at the studio. It seemed like things were slow going since production has been delayed. Today, however, Luz brought some different news.

“Hey Am!” Luz said excitedly. A hint of nervousness could be heard in her voice.

“Hi Luz” Amity said with a soft smile on her face. “What’s up? Something wrong?”

“Maybe? Gah! I don’t know…” Luz threw her head back and groaned as she walked over to Amity. Through her physical therapy, Amity was not able to walk around a little bit and stand on her own. She could finally use the bathroom herself. That was probably what she was most happy about. “I talked to Dana today…”

“You talk to Dana everyday Luz” Amity joked.

“Yeah, but this one is different! Her and I and Alex and Eda are supposed to do a live interview together!” Luz crossed her arms. “Dana had a chat with me about what I could and couldn’t say about the show for legal reasons and then also about how I would react if I was asked about you.”

“And how  _ are _ you going to react?” Amity asked, raising an eyebrow. She was concerned for Luz. She knew interviews were nerve wracking and that having restrictions on top of that made it even worse. The pressure of what you could say being broadcasted live without being able to take back anything is heavy. Amity had plenty of experiences like that but Luz was new to the game.

“Well I wanted to ask you about that. We’ve only been dating for a few weeks… “

“Best few weeks of my life… sorry! Sorry! Keep going” Amity said, flushing red a little bit.

Luz giggled. “That was cute. I’ve really enjoyed the past few weeks too! I still can’t believe I can call you my girlfriend… in my head of course. About that, who are you okay with me telling about us?” Luz asked, uncrossing her arms and resting her elbows on her knees.

“That’s up to you Luz, i’m not the one telling them.”

Luz frowned and took Amity’s hand. “But you’re still a part of the decision. What about my mom?”

“I’m fine with telling her. I think  _ my _ parents would be less likely to be accepting. Just because of the Grom photos and everything. They’d get all anxious about the public getting their speculations right. Drives them crazy when they don’t have control like that.”

“That’s understandable, being worried about the photos, not that they want to control things. So it’s ok if I tell my mom? What about Dana and the other actors?”

“I know Willow would keep the secret, I don’t know Gus well enough but he seems like a trustworthy guy. Boscha would probably accidentally let it slip through some joke she’s making so let's hold off on that. Dana is fine to tell. Let me know how it goes with you mom, I hope she likes me.” Amity said nervously.

“Oh I  _ know _ she’s gonna love you Am! Don’t even worry about it. As for Boscha, how do you know Willow won’t tell her? Those two seem like they’ve got really close recently.”

“Well Willow would probably scold Boscha if she told anyone and the wrath of Willow is one of the only things Boscha is actually scared of, so I think we’re okay.”

Luz squeezed Amity’s hand and looked at her straight in the eyes. “You sure? Do you feel like we’re going too fast?”

Amity let out an exasperated laugh. “It’s not like we can’t not go fast… we already have reporters wanting to know about us. We can’t hide it from them forever and I wasn’t going to turn down the opportunity to date you so… as long as you don’t feel uncomfortable, I think we’re doing good. You make me so happy, Luz.” Amity smiled at Luz and pulled her into a hug.

Luz was hesitant at first, worried about hurting Amity or causing her discomfort because of her injuries. Eventually she laid her hands lightly on Amity’s back. She dipped her head into Amity’s neck and smiled. She could stay like that forever, in the warm, safe, comforting embrace of her girlfriend. She felt butterflies come back to her stomach. She really loved her.

After what felt like an eternity of hugging, Luz let go of her girlfriend and blushed. “So… anyways, about the interview. I feel like hiding it only makes things worse. And on top of that, people are still wondering what your hospital situation is all about.”

“Yeah, my parents think that it’ll just go away. They’re the kind of people to fall off the face of the earth if any conflict is brought up about them. They call it fake news and are so convinced that responding doesn’t matter. It’s like they don’t even care that we have fans who worry and look up to us! Gah! It makes me so angry!”

“It makes me angry too, Am, so what do  _ you _ want to do?”

“You know what.” Amity laughed sarcastically and look up to Luz. “We can’t do anything about talking about our relationship since that’s a little more serious and my parents would go ballistic over it… but that doesn’t mean I can’t have a little rebel against them.”

“And what does that mean?”

“I’m going to explain what happened, without mentioning Bec’s name, to my social media so my followers know what happened. Even if they try and take it down, it’ll be out there. They can’t control me. They’re  _ my _ fans, I can tell them what I want.”

“Damn right! That’s a good plan Amity! I’m with you!”

Amity smiled and took out her new phone. Taking a quick selfie and writing a caption to go with it, she explained how she got chased and got hit by the car. She looked at Luz. “Should I include that I was saving Bec from the car? And should I say that Bec was a crazy fan who wanted to know about my relationship with you?”

“I’m not sure… we don’t want to bend the truth. But also, what can Bec do if we’re not mentioning her? It would also help us with the Grom photos problem. Hopefully it shows some of your followers how serious this can get.”

“True… I think I’ll put it. You, Willow, Ed, Em, and I are the only ones who know what really happened so we should be okay.” Amity tapped out some more text and then hit post. “It’s out. Let’s see what people say.”

“Awesome! Hey, I’m proud of you for doing that. It takes a lot to go against your parents. You’re right, it’s  _ your _ decision what you tell people. Anyways, I gotta go home. It was great seeing you milady” Luz winked. She always did that at the end of her visits and it still made Amity flustered. Luz knew this and loved to see the adorable face Amity would make. They waved goodbye to each other and Luz left, leaving Amity alone again in her hospital room.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


It took another three weeks to get the details sorted out for the interview. Luz had told Dana about her new relationship with Amity and Dana made sure to talk to the interviewers about restricting any questions regarding Amity without telling them that it was because the two girls were now dating. Dana was supportive of their relationship and even said she knew they would get together, as long as it didn’t disrupt filming when Amity got back. 

After Amity sent out the social media posts about why she’s in the hospital, the internet exploded with overwhelming support for her. It seemed like their plan worked. It got some of the reporters to quiet down about the topic now that Amity was addressing it herself. There were also a lot of fans who took to their own social media platforms to spread awareness on toxicity in the fanbase. There was also an outpouring of people talking about why the fans should respect whatever Luz and Amity felt for one another since first and foremost, the fans wanted them to stay friends and be able to film together on set. Lots of people agreed and even gave their own input on intruding on celebrities personal life in general.

Luz felt happier now that there were less fans trying to ask her about the Grom photos. News outlets that were smaller and more desperate for stories stayed on Amity and Luz’s radar. They would offer large sums of money or try and figure out what their phone numbers were so that they could call the girls. But in general, they were easy to ignore. Luz felt like she was walking on air since she also found out that Amity would be able to be released from the hospital soon. The crew would have another month before the hiatus ended in which they would diligently work on finishing Grom and Wing It Like Witches. The show was already greenlit for another season so the first month that season 1b is out, the crew will film the last two episodes and begin plans for the second season while the actors get a break. 

Luz couldn’t be more happy. Everything was going perfectly. Now all that was left was to tell her mom about her and Amity. Luz stood up and walked out of her room. Eda was helping to make lunches for her and Luz before they went for the big interview. The two seemed to be having a great time but stopped once they saw Luz. Both parties seemed hesitant. Without thinking, they both blurted out “We have something to tell you!”

Luz quieted down and gave Eda and Camilia a questionable look. “I have something to tell you too actually. But you guys go first, I'm intrigued.” Luz wiggled her eyebrows and sat down at the kitchen table. Camilia and Eda followed.

Camilia held Eda’s hand under the table and stared at Luz. “Well… we have two surprises. First, since Amity is doing better and you stopped talking to Bec and you’ve seemed happier we thought that now would be a good time to tell you that… Eda and I are dating.”

There was a silence. Eda and Camilia’s hearts beat hard as they awaited Luz’s answer. Luz smiled. “That’s great!! I kind of assumed there was something going on between you two.”

“Y-you did?” Camila exclaimed.

Luz only chuckled. “Of course I did! You don’t get dressed up often, mom, unless its for something important. And you seem to always be going out for dinner with Eda and that couldn’t have been a ‘just friends’ thing.”

“Okay well I guess it wasn’t but still, are you okay with this? Eda is a wonderful girlfriend to me and I-”

“Mom it’s ok! I love Eda! I’ve always kind of seen her as a mother or mentor figure since the incident with Jeremy.”

“Thank you Luz, I’m glad you feel that way. I feel the same kiddo. Also we should probably get going to the interview. Our second surprise is outside actually so grab those lunches and let's go!” Eda stood straight up and started to walk out the door, followed by Luz who was carrying the lunch bags and Camilia who wanted to see her daughter’s reaction.

In their driveway stood a brand new and shiny car. It was a stunning red color and seemed to shine in the morning sun. Luz’s jaw dropped. She almost dropped the lunch bags too. “Who- who’s car is that??” She asked.

“Yours silly!”

“MINE?!?” Luz screamed. She was absolutely flabbergasted. She never expected to get a car now of all times, especially not a new one. She looked to Eda who was rubbing her neck nervously.

“Do you like it kid? I wanted to surprise you since you told me that one time that you had your license but no car and all your other friends do. I promise this isn’t me begging for you to accept me as your mother’s girlfriend-”

“Eda! I love it! And hey, I already accept you so don’t even sweat it. You’re like my dad now!”

Eda and Luz giggled to themselves as Eda eyed the car. “Hey, that means I can make fun dad decisions! Let’s take this baby out for a spin! You’re driving us to the interview!”

“WAIT EDA NO-” Camilia screamed at them, but it was too late. Eda and Luz raced to get in the car. Luz quickly put her seat belt on and started the car up. Camilia felt like she was going to have a heart attack. Eda never said she’d do this but Luz looked like she was having so much fun… despite her haphazardly attempt to get out of the driveway. Camilia facepalmed herself. “Please be safe! Eda! Keep her safe!” Camilia yelled as the pair drove away.

A window rolled down and Eda’s head stuck out of it. “Love you too honey!!” Camilia rolled her eyes and sighed. She trusted that Eda would keep Luz from crashing it.

  
  
  
  
  
  


Finally, they got to the interview. After parking, they got their guest pass’ into the space where the interview would be held. Meeting up with Dana and Alex, the four walked on stage to greet the interviewer.

“Welcome everyone! My name is Key and I will be interviewing the main cast of the new hot show, The Owl House!! As well as the talented creator and director, Dana Terrace!”

The crowd applauded. Eda, Dana, and Alex all smiled and gave the cameras a wave. Luz could feel her skin crawl as she looked out at the blinding lights. The stage fright was starting to get to her but Eda lightly nudged her and gave her a reassuring look. Taking a deep breath, Luz looked out at the crowd, lifted her chin, and smiled wide. Putting up a peace sign, the crowd only grew louder in their cheering.

“I can assure you that I am definitely  _ not _ a self insert of an author from a fanfic” The interviewer, Key as she called herself, started to laugh nervously. The room was silent. “ANYWAYS!!” She exclaimed, fumbling with her notes. “Gosh, sorry this is my first time doing this, right right this is live, even better, UM why don’t you all introduce yourselves!”

Dana chuckled and raised a microphone to her mouth. “Hello everyone! First of all, thank you for having us! We’re super excited to talk about the show and answer your questions! My name is Dana Terrace and I am one of the head directors of the show as well as the creator!”

Next was Alex. “Dana put it perfectly, we’re so glad we could find time to come out and see you all! My name is Alex Hirsch and I voice King and Hooty. I’m also the creator of another Disney show a lot of you probably know, Gravity Falls!”

The audience cheered and hooted, a few people shouting their favorite character from Gravity Falls and others just saying they loved Alex. Alex only kept smiling and laughing as he looked over to Eda.

“Hey y’all! I’m Edalyn Clawthorne but you can call me Eda! I voice the character of the same name on the show.” The audience erupted in applause even from Eda’s short statement. It seemed like there were a lot of Eda admirers and supporters out in the crowd instead of haters. Finally, it was Luz’s turn to speak.

She felt her breath catch in her throat as the audience quieted down. They all stared at her, waiting to hear what the new actress would say. Luz took a deep breath. “Hi everyone! My name is Luz Noceda and I play Luz on the show! I am so incredibly grateful that I landed that role and I’m excited for you all to see the rest of the season! Thank you for your support!”

The audience was quiet for a second as they considered what Luz said. Then, a loud cheer was heard as people started to yell that Luz was their favorite character or that they loved her. Luz sighed in relief and let go of the pressure she had weighing on her shoulders. She could do this.  _ Just be yourself  _ she told herself.

  
  
  
  


The interview continued for about an hour before they got to the audience Q and A portion. At this point, Luz was just wrapping up her thoughts on the second half of the season.

“-I got to experiment and play around with creepy Luz too!” Luz said. She was referring to the scene in The First Day where she said she’d get a hot and vulnerable upperclassman.

Key laughed. “That’ll be fun to see! And the show is already greenlit for a second season, right? So maybe we’ll see more creepy Luz then! I think that concludes the first half of the interview! Now we will go onto fan submitted questions!”

One of the staff members found a microphone and walked around the audience looking for people with questions. They eventually landed on someone and handed them the mic. The lighting crew focused their attention on the fan and the room went silent as they listened.

“Hi! My name is  **luz_witchintraining** and I was wondering how Dana came up with the idea for The Owl House?”

(THIS IS DANA’S ACTUAL RESPONSE TO THIS QUESTION IN HER LIVESTREAM SHE HELD A FEW WEEKS AGO ON TWITCH)

“Well it’s actually kind of a funny story. I was working on another show at the time and had an idea for a girl who had this witch mentor. I’m really into more creepy things so, of course, the idea was a little creepy when I told one of my coworkers on the show at the time. They had told me it wasn’t a good idea and so to spite them, I pitched The Owl House to Disney and here we are now!” Dana said.

“Next question!” yelled Key into her microphone.

“Hello! My name is  **_boo_you_suck_** and I wanted to ask Dana how she picked everyone for the roles!” (I changed this question a little)

“Wow, two questions in a row! There were all kinds of ways I picked the cast! Some of the characters I wanted to have a certain dynamic so I personally reached out to Eda and her sister Lilith to star as their characters because of the sibling dynamic. Others, like Amity, were given to me as a recommendation but still had to audition. Boscha was interesting because since she played a meaner character, I needed to look for someone who could easily relate to the character’s reasoning for acting the way she does. I had found Boscha through recommendation under those factors and hired her! As for Luz, she was a special case. We had a main character already selected and Luz hadn’t even tried out for the role. But the main character we had quit at the last second and we had Luz read the lines in her place for the day. Her talent was enough to persuade Alex and I to take her in as the new main character! She’s been doing an exceptional job ever since!”

Luz smiled as she heard the crowd cheer. Key asked for the next question and another staff member passed the mic along.

“Hi! My name is  **coriesabeja** and I wanted to ask Luz how it feels getting to act on a Disney show?”

“First question! Lets see… well it’s definitely a blessing to be able to have my first major acting role be in a Disney show. The sets are very nice and we have a huge array of talented people on our team that make production and filming the best it can be! So I would say I am just grateful! Grateful and happy!”

“My name is  **dudeyou1** and this is another question for Luz. What would you say inspired you to become an actor and what is your favorite thing about filming?”

“I’m tied with Dana now!” Luz chuckled. “I grew up watching so many Disney Channel shows and I always looked up to those child actors when I was little. My mom and I would act out our favorite scenes and eventually I learned that I could act as a career! It became something I was passionate about and loved to do and so my mom got me some cheap acting lessons and we tried to get small roles here and there in short films on Youtube first! Just as background characters. I eventually moved up to background characters in bigger films and then I landed this job on The Owl House thanks to Dana and Alex’s gracious decision to let me be the main character!”

“That actually leads into my question! Hi, i’m  **unicornwolf18_** and I was wondering how you feel having your first acting role be so big, Luz?”

“It’s absolutely crazy! When I started out I was so nervous that I didn’t deserve it or that I would disappoint Dana and the crew. But after a pep talk and a change in perspective, I told myself that Dana and Alex wouldn’t have given me this opportunity if they didn’t see something in me. From then on I was just determined to make the most out of my role and explore and learn about acting on set with the rest of the cast. I am so grateful that Dana and Alex chose to have me stay because I have made so many friends and I’ve learned so much from my time with them!”

“Here’s a question for Alex, my name is  **onelatinathatbarelydraws** by the way, can we get any crossover between gravity falls and toh?”

“Haha I will try to add in references where I can but we didn’t plan to have any sort of crossover episode, sorry!”

“This is a question for everyone, I’m the  **_cartoon_fangirl_** , favorite scene to film?”

“Once Upon A Swap, It was fun to be Luz.” Alex said.

“True! I liked Once Upon A Swap too but my favorite has to be Covention. I had a lot of fun with that fight scene with my sister.” Eda said.

“Mine is probably the first episode not gonna lie! I just have really good memories of my first day on set, getting to act with my own mom and meeting everyone for the first time!” Luz said.

“My favorite episode to direct is coming up in season 1b” Dana said with a smirk. She shot a wink towards the crowd which only made them lose their minds.

“Hi! My name is  **_lucasmrtnz** and I have a question for Eda, what inspired you and your sister to start acting?”

“My sister and I were real troublemakers as kids. We had so much energy and we would always play pretend or imagine crazy situations to be in. Similar to Luz, we found out that all that make believe stuff can be an actual career since our parents were veteran actors in those old hit movies that no one in this generation knows anymore. We immediately got acting lessons and because of our name, we landed a few big roles in some smaller indie films before being thrust into the big movies and shows!”

“This is another one for Eda, my name is  **capybakaa** . What was your first gig and do you and your sister every work together?”

“Oh all the time! My sister and I actually had our first role together when we were a little younger than Luz. It was a small indie film about bullying and Liltih and I had to play two sisters, one of which was getting bullied and the other stood up for the other one. It was really fun! I’ll never forget it.”

“Hello! I’m  **ghost509_** and I wanted to know how often you re-shoot scenes due to stuff like equipment failure, human error, etc?”

“I’ll take this one” said Dana. “A lot of the equipment Disney provides us is very high quality and so it rarely malfunctions or gets damaged. However, we do end up redoing takes because of the cast laughing at or with each other. Usually it’s because we use a green pillow case for King that gets turned into cgi in the editing process. But the raw tape is just Luz hugging a green pillow with a drawing of what King looks like taped on it.”

Alex spoke up. “And it doesn’t help that I like to play around with my voice acting for King and Hooty to loosen the actors up a little bit, sorry Dana, it’s just too fun.”

Dana rolled her eyes. “That’s why you’re perfect for King’s role! You make so many weird noises that sound like a little furry demon, it’s like I follow you around with a microphone trying to get them.”

The audience laughed at Dana and Alex’s interactions before returning to answering questions.

“I have one for Eda! This is  **Laryzinha15** ! How is acting with a lot of kids on set?”

“They are the most fun and craziest kids I have ever met and they honestly make me think of myself so I try my best to help teach them and give them pointers on their acting. They’re always very teachable and understanding so it really feels like I’ve adopted all of them as my own haha!”

“Luz! This is luz_noceta and I was wondering, how would you feel if you were allowed to wear your clothes from set, out on the street?”

“There is nothing stopping me from doing it but I don’t think that it’s quite my style haha! I’ve gotten a little tired of wearing that outfit over and over again so i am excited for some of the costume changes in the second half of the season!”

“Another one for Luz! I’m  **cooper_uwu45** ! Does it surprise you that you’re my favorite character?”

“Haha I’m happy I’m your favorite character! Thank you for your support!”

“Okay one last question and then we have to let Alex, Dana, Eda, and Luz get back to work!” said Key as she looked out into the crowd.

“Hi! I’m skylectra and this is a question for everyone! Who is your favorite person on set or the most fun to be around?”

“Great question! Probably Luz, I’m always so proud to see her working so hard!” Dana said.

“Definitely Eda, her and I crack a lot of jokes off of set!” Alex said, pointing finger guns at Eda.

“Oh yeah! Alex and I are like a dynamic duo! And then of course I love Luz!” Eda said.

“Oh geez how do I pick just one?? Everyone is so nice and supportive so I choose everyone!” Luz said, smiling from ear to ear.

Key clapped her hands and stood up from her seat. “Well that concludes our interview! Let’s hear another round of applause for the talented cast and crew of The Owl House!!” The room exploded with cheer. “Come back on Monday to see what happens next- I MEAN- we’ll be interviewing the cast and crew of Amphibia on Monday so stay tuned! Until then, bye everyone!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will probably do more of these interviews so if you have more questions, put them in my AA Interview highlight on Instagram! This was really fun to write and I hope you all enjoyed it as well as my guest appearance haha XD
> 
> Anways, drink water, eat food, sleep well, and have a good weekend everyone! I might take a break on Monday or I might post the next chapter, depends on my schedule next week so make sure to follow my Instagram at keysstylus to get updates on if I will post of not! Thank you for reading!!


	28. Chapter 28

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I told you the knife would make a third appearance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shorter chapter, 3k words. Hope y'all like it!

#  Chapter 28

The interview ended up going much better than the cast thought. The fans were all really supportive and they were able to avoid talking about Luz and Amity’s relationship. Luz felt hopeful that her romantic engagements were not the sole topic of the public eye and that the fans wanted to know about  _ her _ . It made Luz so happy that she had real fans now! She remembered elementary school Luz joining fandoms and wishing one day that she’d have her own.

Dana and Alex had come together and parked on the opposite side of the parking lot while Luz and Eda were walking back to their car. Dana had congratulated everyone on a successful first interview and commended Luz for her efforts. Eda made sure to give Luz a congratulations noogie on the head to seal the deal. They were laughing all the way until they realized their car had been towed.

“Parking in front of a fire hydrant. Of all things-” Eda sighed. Pointing at the fire hydrant she recomposed herself and looked at Luz. “Learning moment, don’t park in front of fire hydrants.”

“Gotcha” Luz said, doing some finger guns awkwardly. “Now what?”

Eda stuffed her hands in her pockets and sighed. “Cami is probably already at work so I guess we just have to walk.”

The pair started down the street. The interview studio wasn’t too far away from Luz’s neighborhood. The two had driven down however because the path ran through a less safe part of LA. Eda wasn’t fond of the idea of walking through there but she was confident that she would be able to protect Luz if anything happened. Her parents had put her and Lilith into a self-defense class when they were just thirteen. 

Luz didn’t know that the block they were walking through was more dangerous than others. She also didn’t know that Eda was trained in self-defense so it canceled out. All Luz could do was not stop smiling. She was grinning ear to ear as she nudged Eda and tugged on her sleeve.

“You call my mom ‘Cami’??” Luz teased. Eda blushed bright red, glowing from ear to ear in the flustered color. “That is  _ SO _ cute!!!”

Eda shook her arm away from Luz’s. “Oh please, you call that Blight girl ‘grocery girl’, like talk about cheesy.”

Luz huffed. “It’s our thing! It’s like an inside joke between us, I think it’s sweet, she’s sweet, THE JOKE! Not Amity! I mean, of course, Amity is sweet, she’s so nice and- okay I should stop talking.” Now it was Luz who was blushing from ear to ear. Eda was only holding her hand up to her face trying to stifle her laughs. She was doing a horrible job.

“So is  _ that _ what you wanted to tell your mom and I?” Eda asked. “Don’t think I didn’t forget you had something to tell us back at the house. Everyone gets crushes Luz, just don’t make it too obvious like you’re doing right now.”

“I- well, um, about that…” Luz bit her lip. “Amity and I are… actually… y’know…”

“Wait was I wrong? You  _ don’t _ like Amity like that?? Geez I owe your mother 20 bucks…”

“No! No! You don’t owe her anything, um, Amity and I are dating…”

“OHHHH” Eda yelled. Luz cringed and her eyes darted around, hoping it hadn’t brought anyone’s attention towards them. Very subtle Eda, nice going. “Hah! See the twins and I thought you’d wait another few months before either of you caved, okay who confessed first? I might have to owe Ed and Em twenty bucks  _ EACH _ .”

“How many people are there that have bets on me and Amity?!?” Luz exclaimed, a little louder than Eda. She was embarrassed and shocked. Was it that obvious? Was it obvious to the public?

“Well Dana suggested it first… but I think Willow had given her the idea before then… anyways, tell me! Who confessed first? Come on kid, my money depends on this!” Eda said, making grabby motions with her hands.

“Wait?? Dana?? Willow I would assume, but DANA??? And aren’t you rich? You can spare twenty dollars to the Blight siblings.”

“They’re rich too, Luz. And you’re avoiding the question… who??” Eda was getting restless now. It was like watching a drama on TV and being left on a cliffhanger. She couldn’t wait to hear what happened.

“Okay okay fine, it was Amity.”

Eda groaned. “Well I gained twenty dollars from your mom but I lost forty to those insufferable twins.”

“So Ed and Em thought Amity would confess first?” Luz said, intrigued.

“Oh yeah, they said you wouldn’t realize you liked her while Amity has known for a long time.”

“S-she has??”

“Of course she has!” Eda rolled her eyes. “I mean, you’re you! So, adorably dorky and just a lovable dumbass. You and Amity work well together.”

Luz looked down at her feet as she walked. “And… my mom thought I didn’t like Amity?”

“She was worried about it, yeah. Amity had apparently talked to her one day and she could tell how much Amity felt for you. She wasn’t sure if you felt the same way.”

_ And here I was wondering if Amity loved me enough when it was really me who was blind. _ Luz thought to herself. She sighed and looked to Eda who was smiling at her.

“Hey, don’t worry about it kid. Are you happy?”

Luz smiled. She thought about the change her life had made in the past few months. She felt so loved and supported across all aspects of her life and she was enjoying every bit of it. She laughed. “Yeah, I’m happy.”

“And that’s what counts!” Eda said triumphantly as she looked forward again. Her eyes took a second to lock onto a small convenience store on the corner of one of the streets. She had an idea. “Say… wanna stop for a treat? On me.”

Luz nodded happily and the two walked into the corner store. They looked around and saw all kinds of sweet and salty snacks. Luz picked out some gummy worms and Eda got a soda. As they were at the check out station, Luz saw a particular brand of chocolate bunny candies that a certain green haired actress liked. Luz told Eda she was going to grab some and went to the back of the store to get them. Once Luz had grabbed a pack, she saw a stranger leaning against a wall. All black clothing and relatively tall. She immediately gritted her teeth. 

She learned from the experience with Bec not to engage with Jeremy. He seemed highly unstable and who knows if he’s carrying a weapon on him. She hurriedly walked back to the check out and tugged at Eda’s sleeve. “I think Jeremy is in here.” Luz whispered to Eda. Eda glanced at the back of the store and ducked down to Luz. “Don’t look, just keep walking.” She whispered to Luz as she pulled her to her other side, the side that wasn’t going to pass Jeremy as they headed out of the store.. 

Eda got a bad feeling in her gut as they set back out on the sidewalk. She took Luz’s hand to make sure she would stay safe and looked around for some kind of reflective object to look behind her with. She didn’t want to make it obvious since that could trigger the stranger to do something. Her eye caught a piece of a broken mirror that was propped up against a fence post. With a quick glance, she saw that the stranger was following them from a distance.

Eda’s shoulders tensed. Her brow began to sweat as she racked her head for escape routes. Luz took note of her behavior and looked at Eda worriedly.

“Everything okay?” Luz said meekly.

“Don’t look behind you, just keep walking and follow my lead. We can’t go home. He’s following us, we don’t want to bring him to your house.” Eda said as she watched for an opportunity to get away. She was gripping Luz’s hand. “If I tell you to run, do it. Don’t hesitate. Just get as far away as you can and call the police, okay?”

“O-okay…” Luz said. She didn’t want it to come to that and she didn’t know if she’d have the courage to just ditch Eda. Suddenly, she felt a tug on her arm. Eda had spotted a corner to duck behind. If Jeremy followed them, they’d be able to get out of his line of sight at least. This was a smart plan, except she didn’t account for if the corner led to a dead end. Which it did.   
  
Eda cursed to herself silently and sweated trying to think of what to do. Jeremy was going to come around the corner any second now. Eda’s only option was to fight and get Luz to run away. Hiding behind the corner, Eda heard the shuffle of sneakers on the pavement. The first speck of hair or clothing that was made visible triggered Eda to punch around the corner at full force. Her fist knocked Jeremy right in the face, but not enough to get him on the ground.

“LUZ! RUN!” Eda yelled, hoping Luz would do what she was told. That didn’t seem to be the option though. Luz lunged for Jeremy, getting on his back and pulling at his hood, revealing his longer and grown out hair as well as a little stubble on his face. His eyes looked crazy and deranged and they stared at Eda with such rage and insanity that even Eda felt stopped in her tracks. Jeremy heaved forward, throwing Luz off of his back and landing her on the ground. With a quick motion he pulled out a rusty and blood stained knife, the same knife he had used when he attacked Bec and Luz and the same knife Bec had used to try and hurt Amity. This time it was at Luz’s throat. Jeremy had his whole weight down as he looked up to Eda.

“One wrong move Clawthorne and I slit her throat, GOT IT?!” He yelled.

Eda gulped. She darted her eyes around, trying to figure out where she could strike to get Luz out without a scratch.  _ Damnit Luz, you should have run. _ Eda thought to herself. She put her hands up in surrender. “What do you want, kid?”

“DON’T CALL ME THAT” He exclaimed all of a sudden. His grip loosened a little on the knife. Something about that sentence struck a chord with Jeremy and directed his focus away from Luz. Luz noticed this and eyed Eda to somehow keep going.

“I’ll call you what I want,  _ kid _ . Let Luz go.” Wrong choice of words it seems. Jeremy pressed the knife against Luz’s skin, drawing a little blood causing Luz to gasp in pain. She was starting to lose feeling in her arms since Jeremy was pressing down on one of them with his body.

“You think I'd let her go when she could help me get back at Bec?? That traitor ghosted me without paying up her end of the deal. So now I'll take something precious from her like you did to me! Everyone gets to share the fun!!” The cut was going deeper now, little by little. Luz was stuck in fear as she saw the absolute torture Jeremy wanted to give Luz and Eda. Eda saw that aggravating him with Bec or Luz only made him madder. She had to get to the root of the problem, his soft spot. His weakness.

“I haven’t even ever met you kid. What are you talking about.” Eda said calmly. She didn’t want to show Jeremy that she was scared. It would only fuel his insanity more. Keep him talking…

“You don’t remember the face of the reporter you got fired? His last name??” Jeremy started to laugh. He got up from Luz, disregarding her now. He stared at Eda. His eyes sunken in and crazy. He pointed the knife at her as he slowly walked towards her. Eda stood her ground and nodded for Luz to get out of there. Luz took the hint this time and ran, pulling out her phone quickly to call the police. “She can do whatever she wants, run for all I care. You were always my target from the beginning Clawthorne. I hope you remember my face now when I kill you. The last resemblance of that reporter you ran into poverty all those years ago, shaming him and causing him to abandon me… ”

Jeremy ran at Eda at full speed with the knife swinging. Eda knew one thing about knife fights. They were unpredictable and a pain to deal with. She used circular motions, however, to avoid Jeremy’s rigid attacks. He grunted and huffed, trying everything he could to hurt Eda. He wanted to make Eda hurt as much as he’d been hurting for years. Eda connected the dots in her head.

“Listen kid- agh!” While she was trying to talk, Jeremy landed a hit, tearing through the sleeve of her jacket and drawing blood from her arm. It didn’t stop her however. She maneuvered them out of the dead end and hoped this would make enough of a scene to attract attention from passerbyers. But in this neighborhood, there were few. “I didn’t fire your dad! My parents did!”

Another hit landed. This time on Eda's side. She felt the sting as she tried to remain agile. She ran as fast as she could to try and escape but Jeremy threw the knife, lodging it in the back of Eda’s leg, causing her to fall to the ground. Jeremy caught up and stood over her, ripping the knife from her leg. Eda howled in pain. “Like that makes a difference. It's ironic that you’d talk about my father while you’re being hurt by his knife. I guess it’s all karma coming back to get you Clawthorne.” Jeremy held the knife up high and started to bring it down towards Eda’s chest. Eda put her hands up hoping to somehow do something as she squeezed her eyes shut. She only hoped Luz had made it out safely.

Eda heard a scream. Not the scream of Jeremy, but the scream of Luz. She opened her eyes again to see Luz huffing and puffing. Jeremy was on the ground now clutching his leg. It looked like Luz had completely stomped on the back of his knee from behind. Eda was secretly proud but was too busy getting help from Luz up to her feet. She limped on her right leg, the one that had been stabbed by the knife. Her non injured arm was slung around Luz’s shoulder and now she was staring down at Jeremy.

“It’s over Jeremy. You’ve been caught.” Luz said. Several policemen walked up and past Eda and Luz. They handcuffed Jeremy and pulled him to his feet before shoving him in another police officer’s car. His knife was confiscated and he was carted away to the station to be held in a cell there until further notice. The police officer thanked Luz and bid them good day. Luz and Eda would be contacted if they had any information. With a sigh of relief, Luz and Eda embraced in a hug. They were both glad the other one was safe.

“Well that was quite the father daughter adventure, huh?” Eda laughed.

Luz was close to tears watching the cut up and hurt Eda before her. She just kept hugging Eda. “If I had been any later… I- I don’t know what I would have done-” She said, holding back sobs.

Eda rubbed her back. “Hey, hey, i’m okay though, right? And that’s all that counts… now, let’s get home and try to explain this to your mother.”

“Yeah about that…” Luz said nervously.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


“EDALYN CLAWTHORNE”

Back at the house, Eda was getting scolded by Camilia in a mix of angry spanish and english. Eda knew it was Camilia’s way of showing how worried she was but it didn’t make it any less scary.

“You could have been killed! Thank god you didn’t get any major injuries!” Camilia said.

“Bah don’t worry about me Cami, nothing can take me down. I’m just glad Luz is okay.” Eda said, looking over to Luz.

“I’m glad too” Camilia said as she looked at Luz. “Thank you for keeping her safe. Luz do you want a bandaid for your neck?”

By now the cut had already scabbed over so Luz wasn’t too worried. She shook her head and looked over to Eda. “Y’know, speaking of Luz… she had something to tell us. Right Luz?”

Luz bit her lip and fiddled with her thumbs nervously. “This probably isn’t the best time to say this, with what just happened with Jeremy, but um… Amity and I are dating…” she said quietly. She waited for her mom’s reaction.

“Good for you, Amity is a good girlfriend.”

Luz’s jaw dropped.  _ That was so… blunt! I expected more of a lecture on dating… _ Luz thought to herself. “H-how do you know? I mean I know she’s a good girlfriend, she’s my girlfriend, but I was kind of expecting more-”

“Luz I can tell she makes you happy. That’s all that matters to me. I’ve already talked to her and she seems like a wonderful girl. I’m proud of you two.” Camilia said, smiling at Luz.

Luz felt herself bubble up with happiness. She wiped away a few tears and hugged her mom. “Thank you mama…”

“Of course mija” Camilia brought Eda into the hug, careful not to hurt her. “I’m proud of you Luz. Look at the community of people you have now. Eda and Willow and Gus and Amity and more. It makes me cry, carino, you’ve come so far from middle school. Bec is out of the picture and you’re the best you’ve ever been. I’m proud, I am.”

Now the whole family was sobbing. The small moment brought everyone to tears. They settled in the feeling for a few minutes before letting go. Luz wiped her eyes and stood tall.

“Speaking of Bec, Amity and I need to talk to her.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We have changed the title to "An 'Act' of Love ;)"!! Thank you for your votes! This title is a mix of a few different people's suggestions as well as my own tweaks to it! I hope you guys like it!
> 
> So... I'm not entirely happy with how this came out T^T I hope the Jeremy situation made sense as well as Bec. If it didn't, below is a summary of both Jeremy and Bec's thought processes that happen more off book since this story is focused on Luz.
> 
> Basically, Jeremy's dad was the one who was fired during Eda's big scandal for writing the original article. He was laid off through the Clawthorne parent's power and wealth and Jeremy's dad was left in poverty, searching for a job. He couldn't find another job he was good at or that he had the college credentials for. Jeremy had just gotten into his tweens and his dad was so ashamed of not being able to contribute to the family income that he thought it'd be better to leave Jeremy and his mom so they wouldn't have to pay for him. Jeremy was too young to understand and he was closer to his father than his mother. He resorted to violence instead.
> 
> I wanted to write Jeremy's story because sometimes those reporters who give the big scoop on some celebrity's life are also human. They have jobs and families and for some, it's their only option. They're desperate to get the media coverage so they can get paid and so the news outlet does well. I won't go too much into it but Jeremy felt it was unfair and all of that rage went to violence. This is different from Bec because Bec would never hurt Luz physically. She's much more of an emotional manipulator because violence has always been in her life from a homelife standpoint so she doesn't like to use violence against people. Her breaking point came, however, when Luz left her. Spending so much time with Jeremy behind the scenes caused her to snap and some of Jeremy rubbed off on her, resulting in the knife and Amity scene. Afterward, however, she was ashamed of it because of said family trauma that she didn't want to repeat. So she distanced herself from Jeremy, resulting in today's chapter and events.


	29. Chapter 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyo! PLEASE READ
> 
> Chapters will be slowing down for this fic since it is reaching the end! I only have a few more major events I want to happen so I will be posting only once a week now on Monday! I will be using the extra time to start writing my next fanfic which is a surprise ;) I am doing small reveal on Instagram of what the story will be about whenever I gain 50-100 followers so make sure to follow me on Instagram at keysstylus. Like this fanfic, it will have art to accompany it and this time, a playlist of music too! I'm really excited to share the idea with you guys so let me know how hyped you are in the comments or dm me on Instagram! Anyways...
> 
> ENJOY!!

The next week, Dana was ready to move forward with filming. Amity had another week in the hospital before she could be let out. She was finishing up her physical therapy and the doctors wanted to make sure she would be okay to be active outside of the hospital. And then even after she is released, the doctors want her to refrain from being active for an additional week. Of course Luz wanted Amity to take as much time as she needed to feel better, however, the season 1b air date was fast approaching and Grom and Wing it Like Witches were barely filmed. They still needed to get edited too! There was definitely tension in the room but Dana had a plan. It was going to be risky but it was all she could think of.

“Okay crew, change of plans.” She said loudly, cutting through the chatter of the studio room. Crew members and actors alike were all whispering among themselves about the seemingly looming rush to get the episodes filmed that they will have to endure soon. Dana took a deep breath. “I know we’re all anxiously waiting for Amity to return from the hospital, however, she will still be out of commission for two weeks.”

The room gasped. Most of them had not known about this. Those who did were under strict notice not to tell anyone for fear it would get out to the public. Dana respected Mr. and Mrs. Blight’s wishes, although begrudgingly, and only chose to let out that small detail. Nobody knew Amity was doing physical therapy or that she would need to recover further before taking to acting again. Dana was worried about how this might go for the production of the show since it was gaining more and more popularity and attention. With that comes a bigger push from Disney to get the episodes out.

“So!” Dana said, again very loudly as to catch the attention of the room. “We will be filming Agony of a Witch first! I know I know, we’re filming out of order. We have to stay productive though so stick with me and let’s get filming!”

Everyone dispersed as they looked at their scripts. Lighting and sound crew members fumbled to get the right settings for the episode which would be much darker than the anticipated Grom or Wing it Like Witches they thought they would be filming. Set design ran around swapping out backgrounds and props. Luz and Eda just stood there waiting to get on.

“You sure you’ll be okay, Eda?” Luz glanced at the older actress. She was crossing her arms and trying to stand tall, however, her injuries seemed to make her wince and hunch over a bit. Makeup had done a good job at covering up the bandages she wore over the cuts in her arm and leg. Luz furrowed her brows. “How are you? Do they hurt?”

“Bah, not enough to stop me from filming. Don’t worry kiddo, I talked to Dana about this. I’ll be fine, nothing can take me down!” Eda said confidently. Luz shot her a look of disapproval which Eda sighed at. “I promise i’ll be ok, Luz. But if i’m not, then you can say you told me so. Okay?”

“Oh you know I will.” Luz smirked. They heard the noise settle down and turned towards the set. It looked like that was their cue to get onto set. They were filming the scenes at the Owl House first so that it’d make it easier and more linear on the crew. Eda placed a yellow scarf, handed to her from one of the prop assistants, around her neck and grabbed some binoculars. Walking over to her starting position, she faced the window. Luz went off to the side and out of frame, ready to make her own entrance.

_Action!_

“Hooty…” Eda started as she dropped the binoculars from her face. “Oh you’re a thorn in my side.” Eda said nonchalantly as she hung the binoculars on their post and swapped it out for a cup of hot tea, waiting for her on top of one of the treasure chests in the room. In the foreground of the shot was a black cauldron. Wires hung from a wooden spoon that was stirring it. Taking a sip, Eda continued. “But you always dig your way into my heart.”

Luz walked into frame, reaching for the cauldron. “Ooo magic ‘sghetti!” Eda perked up and waved her finger, signalling the crew to move the wooden spoon over to Luz so it would slap her hand away.

“Hey! That ‘sghetti is witch’s wool.” Eda set down her tea and walked over. She winced a little at the sharp pain in her leg but kept going since she was out of frame currently. She took a handful of the “‘sghetti”, which was really just yarn. “It repels powerful spells! Every witch work their salt has a cloak made from this stuff.”

Luz put her hands to her face, making an amazed look. Her eyes went wide as she stared at the string which, without editing and effects, looked ordinary. “I-i’m worth salt… I want cloak!” she exclaimed, grasping the sides of the cauldron.

Eda grabbed the cauldron out from under her, causing Luz to give her puppy dog eyes. “Easy kid. With the Emperor’s goons at my doorstep, I need this for protection.” Eda set the cauldron on the treasure chest she had gotten her tea from. Looking back out the window of the owl house, she continued her lines. “They’re really stepped up their attacks lately.”

“I think I finally understand why the Emperor wants you so badly…” Luz said with a sad face. She tried to control the excitement in herself as she continued the line. “He’s got the hots for you, doesn’t he?” She said, twirling a finger and laughing a little.

Eda shot some finger guns at Luz and clicked her tongue. Immediately, she took back a serious demeanor, looking away from Luz. “But no. Emperor Belos wants to control all wild magic with his _coven_ system.” Clenching her fist, Eda looked back at Luz. “Her ordered my capture years ago because I refused to fall in line.”

“And he won’t stop until he’s got you.” Luz said sadly, looking at the ground with a pouty lip.

“Aw. Don’t sound so worried. I’m a master escape artist. The only thing that can slow me down is my curse.” Eda said, throwing out a hand. “And that hasn’t bothered me for weeks!” She took a wide stance and outstretched her arms.

Before Eda could continue, Dana called for a cut in the scene. Some special effects artists ushered Eda off of the set to get her prepared for the switch to Owl Eda. Luz took this second to look back at her phone. 

_Amity: How is filming going? :D_

Luz smiled. Amity had been happier recently with her incoming release from the hospital. Her physical therapy has been going really well and she’s taken a few walks around and outside of the hospital while accompanied by staff. Luz noticed she was using more emoticons and found it very cute. She laughed to herself and typed back.

_Luz: Hey cutie ;) We’re filming Agony of a Witch early so you can recover for however long you need. Eda is getting turned into an owl right now._

_Amity: Sounds exciting and… feathery. I feel bad for delaying filming for so long. Tell the crew i’ll be right back at it in less than two weeks!_

_Luz: Don’t overwork yourself though, take your time. I wouldn’t want you to get injured further._

_Amity: Don’t worry about me, Luz, I’ll be okay. I can’t wait to come back_

_Luz: I always worry about you milady :)_

_Amity: ahdfkjdsgkj LUZ_

_Luz: I like to make you flustered! It’s so cute!_

_Amity: HFLAHFJKS_

Luz giggled and sent more flirty things to Amity. She was happy she could flirt openly with her now over text. It always made her smile and she hoped that it made Amity happy too. After a bit more texting, Eda came back onto set with a bunch of feathers glued to her arms and legs. Luz said goodbye to Amity and got up to walk over to Eda.

“Itchy?” She asked.

“Very. Always so itchy.” Eda replied.

The two got back on set and Eda did a quick take of the feathers coming out. She was then replaced by another person in a body suit that would be edited in effects as Owl Eda. Filming continued as normal and soon enough, the work day was done. They had finished the scenes at The Owl House. The end scene was the hardest to film. Luz knew how sad the scene should be and internalized that feeling. She reached to her fear and sadness that she felt when her and Eda were attacked by Jeremy. She thought about how helpless and useless she felt when they were cornered. Combining that with all of the bad memories and feelings she’s had over the past couple of months due to Bec, Jeremy, and her and Amity’s media scares caused her to cry without her realizing. Although it was perfect for the scene.

  
  
  
  
  


The next week, Amity was finally out of the hospital. Since her public statement on her social media, a lot less press were trying to get to her at the hospital so she was able to get into Ed and Em’s car and get taken home. Or that’s what her parents thought she was doing. Instead, Ed and Em were driving away from their house and towards the studio. Amity caught this and looked around. 

“Wait, why are we heading towards the studio?”

Ed and Em snickered to each other. “We thought you’d like to visit your girlfriend.” Emira said.

“B-but! I’m not supposed to do anything physical for another week! And how do you two know- did Luz tell you??”

“Luz told us nothing but we knew as soon as Eda paid us both twenty bucks.” Edric said, holding up a twenty dollar bill.

“And besides, Mittens, you won’t be filming. You can just sit and drool over your girlfriend.” Emira teased.

“I do NOT drool over-” Amity stopped when Emira gave her a knowing look. “Okay so maybe I do, so what?? I’m allowed to love my girlfriend and appreciate and admire her!”

“We’re using the L word.” Edric said.

“And it’s not lesbian.” Emira giggled. Amity gave them both a roll of her eyes.

“Love?”

“Ding ding ding! So you _love_ her, huh Mittens?” Edric said as he drove the car. Emira turned around and looked Amity dead in the eyes.

“Love is a pretty strong word, how do you _know_ you _love_ her?” Emira asked. “It took me a while to figure out that I love Viney. You have to love _all_ of that person, even their flaws. And seeing those flaws takes time.”

Amity thought to herself about Luz’s flaws. She thought about how she could be very stubborn and oblivious, sometimes to her detriment. She thought about how she could be easily convinced of something, thinking back to the situations with Bec. She thought about Luz’s sometimes irrational behavior and how she can sometimes keep things from people. Amity also thought of how much Luz has grown despite that and all the lessons she’s learned in only the past few months. Amity smiled. _I think I do love everything about Luz…_ she thought to herself as she looked out the window.

“Uh oh, she’s swooning.” Edric said.

“Save it for your girlfriend, Mittens. We’re here.” Emira pointed out the car window at the entrance to the Disney studio. She quickly got out of the car to help Amity if she needed it, but she seemed to do just fine on her own. She hadn’t been to the studio in so long she almost forgot what it looked like. Smiling, she walked over to the steps and inside. Ed and Em were always close by to help her in case she had trouble.

After checking in with the front desk, the Blight siblings were back in the studio and near all the sets. They heard plenty of people bustling around for special effect, makeup, lighting, props, and costume designs. As they walked by one room, a girl popped out and yelped.

“AMITY! Oh thank god you’re here, we need to fit you for your Grom outfit RIGHT AWAY!” The girl quickly grabbed Amity’s wrist and started to pull her away before Ed and Em stepped in. They took the girls hand off of Amity’s and stood between them.

“Heyyy” Ed and Em said in the politest way possible. “Could you do that softer? She just got out of the hospital.”

The girl flushed and brushed back her hair. “O-Oh! Yes! Of course, of course… sorry about that Amity…” The girl rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. “I was just in a rush since we still need to get it tailored and we only have a week so-”

Amity pushed her away past Ed and Em to the girl, placing a hand on her shoulder and giving her a kind smile. “Hey, hey, it’s okay. Lead me to where I can try on the outfits.”

Ed and Em smiled at each other as they watched the crew member calm down. They were impressed and proud of Amity for taking hold of the situation and helping like she did. She wouldn’t have done that a year or two ago. Something changed in her.

The crew member led them to the costume department where they could figure out Amity’s outfit for Grom. Dana had wanted them to choose their outfits themselves so that they would feel comfortable. Of course, with guidance from the professional’s provided. The team started out simple, suggesting colored or black and white to Amity.

“What is Luz wearing? I’d love to play off of that.” Amity asked.

“We’re not allowed to tell you.” The team snickered. Amity huffed and chose color. Knowing Luz, she probably chose something black and white with a hint of color. So Amity would do the reverse.

Next, the team wanted to know if she liked dresses or suits or a combination of the two. This was a little more difficult for Amity to figure out since Luz could go both ways. She can be very androgynous and wears a lot of both genders clothes. Amity thought for a second and then decided to try something from both and see what she thought.

Moving onto colors, Amity chose green and pink since those were the color palette of her character. The signature colors. The crew had picked out several green, pink, or a combination of the two colors in dresses and suits. Amity went through all of them, finally settling on a green suit and a pink dress.

The suit consisted of a white dress shirt, a greenish-blue tailcoat with a golden chain to connect it, light brown knee high boots with a gold toe and heel, as well as a pair of green dress pants to complete the look. On the other hand, the pink dress had light pink sleeves that ruffled out. The torso was tight and black with a pink teardrop shape on the chest. The skirt was on medium length and was a muted maroon color. This dress went with some pink socks and a pair of short black heels.

Amity took a second to think over each outfit. They were radically different but Amity loved both of them. She weighed the pros and cons. Even though she loved the green suit, it may be harder to dance in. At the same time, the suit may be easier to hide wiring under than the dress. The crew could put a harness under the tailcoat but the dress was one piece. But then again, the dress could flow better. Then Amity thought of her character, and specifically what the colors represented. 

Green was related to her character’s family name. It was what her character’s mom forced her to dye her hair as. It represents her character being controlled. While pink is her character’s own choice. Pink represents a retaliation against her character’s parents' control. Amity had figured out her outfit. Maybe her own feelings and experiences with her real parents helped her along the way.

“I’ll go with the dress.” She said with a smile. The crew thanked Amity and quickly got to work measuring everything and getting ready to take it to the tailor. In the midst of all of it, Amity looked back to Ed and Em who were smiling proudly and holding up a thumbs up. Amity sighed in relief and flagged down one of the crew members.

“Hey, do you know where Luz is?” She asked.

“Oh! I think they’re practicing the fight scene right now in one of the sets, I think it was set 4F?” The crew member said. Amity thanked her and waved to Ed and Em. The three Blight siblings walked out of the costume department and found their way to set 4F. Inside they heard yelling and screaming as well as the squeak of sneakers on the floor.

Amity peered inside and saw Lilith and Eda pretending to fight, waving their prop staffs around. To the side, she saw Luz, watching them. She looked mesmerized and amazed. Amity found it cute. Luz was so entranced by the Clawthorne sisters that Amity decided to sneak up on her. Walking around the back, Amity got behind Luz and tackled her with a hug. It took Luz a second to realize what was happening as she gasped when she was knocked over.

“Amity!! Are you okay? Did that hurt? No physical stuff remember?? I’m glad you wanted to see me though! Ahh come here” Luz said quickly. She looked to make sure Amity was okay and with a smile from the green haired actress, Luz bombarded her with a hug. Wrapping her arms tightly around her girlfriend, Luz smiled into the crook of Amity’s neck. They sighed, staying like that for a bit.

“I’m okay Luz, like I said, don’t worry! It’s good to be back. How are Lilith and Eda?” Amity asked. She looked around to make sure Ed and Em weren’t up to trouble. Her eyes locked onto them in the corner, seemingly recording her and Luz. Amity felt heat rise to her face. “Do NOT record this you two!! Go away!”

Ed and Em only laughed as they walked over to the other side of the studio to watch Eda and Lilith who were intensely focused on their choreography. Amity and Luz watched as the sisters seemed to dance around each other. They had been practicing with Spencer all week to prepare. They both seemed tired but also were determined to get the scene right. Luz and Amity blushed as they thought about their own dance practices and how determined they were. 

“It looks like they’re doing good!” Amity said, watching the two older actresses battle it out once more.

“Yeah! They’ve been going for a good 20 minutes. I should probably remind them to take a break and drink some water.” Luz said, staring at Eda who was panting and wincing.

Amity took one of the water bottles from Luz’s side and started to walk over to Eda and Lilith. Luz followed behind her with the other water bottle.

“Hey! You two! Let’s take a break! You guys look tired!” Luz and Amity shouted. This caught the attention of Lilith and Eda. Luz smiled at how hardworking they seemed. It looked like they really wanted to perfect this scene for the show. Handing the water bottles to Eda and Lilith, the two drank theirs as if they were in a desert. Luz and Amity stood to the side as the sisters chugged their drinks.

“By the way, Luz. I forgot to show you but someone made a pretty cool video of our characters! It’s like an animation and the drawings are really good! It’s to the song ‘Little Miss Perfect’. I’ve never heard it before but it definitely connects with my character.” Amity held out her phone to Luz. A video was pulled up on it displaying a video from a youtube channel by the name of ThatOneDorkThatDraws. Amity hit play and the two girls watched in awe at the animatic.

Once it was done, Luz was smiling all over herself. “I can’t believe a fan did that! The storytelling was so good too! Wow! I’m impressed!”

“Yeah! It made me so happy so see people relating my character to certain songs. I love that the fans can understand what she’s going through and I'm glad it’s helped some people with their own problems.” Amity said happily.

Luz smiled at Amity. She could tell how much she loved the fan creations that she got. It seemed like this one in particular meant a lot to her. Something must have hit deep to have her so hung up over it. Luz took Amity’s hand. “That’s great Am! I’m happy for you”

“Yeah! It’s blowing up right now! So many fans are making more animatics and fan edits of scenes from the show to it! They’ve really adopted this song” Amity laughed.

“Who’s the song by?” Luz questioned, peeking back at the phone to see if she could find the artist.

“It’s sung by Taylor Louderman but Joriah Kwame is the guy who wrote it.”

Luz laughed. “Well that’ll be a fun little inside joke for the fandom.”

“Oh they apparently have a lot. Emira told me fans have been dming her by barking like dogs. She finds it really funny and has even barked back to them.”

“That’s hilarious! I can’t wait to see what other jokes they make for season 1b!” Luz said.

The girls were having such a great time talking that they didn’t realize Lilith was helping Eda stand up. Once they noticed, they rushed over to help. Eda looked pale and was having a few muscle spasms.

“What’s going on??” Luz asked worriedly.

“I’m not sure, Eda, talk to me, what’s happening?” Lilith said, looking Eda straight in the eyes.

“My… cuts…” She said weakly. Amity quickly tried to remove the bandages that were covered in makeup and once the wounds were seen, she gasped loudly. She clasped her hands to her mouths and her eyes widened in shock. Luz needed to look away because the sight was so disgusting. The cuts looked infected. Especially the one on her arm and leg. The deeper ones. Lilith lightly shook Eda.

“Eda, what were you attacked with again?” Lilith asked her.

“A knife… that… may or may not have been rusty…” Eda said guiltily. She thought that she’d be fine but she couldn’t remember the last time she got her vaccines.

“EDALYN!” Lilith outburst. “You could get tetanus! Do you remember when you last got your vaccine?”

“...no” Eda said. “Oh just take me to the hospital already.”

“Eda this isn’t a stupid game, god why are you like this.” Lilith groaned. “Stay here girls and tell Dana what happened. I’ll take Eda to the hospital and get her a vaccine right away.”

“Is she gonna be… okay?” Luz asked hesitantly.

Lilith scoffed. “Oh please, she’ll be fine. I’m just frustrated that she _still_ doesn’t like to get shots, even when we’re in our forties. Geez Edalyn, you’re still a child.”

“Always will be!” Eda said proudly.

The sisters continued to bicker as Eda was carried away. Luz rubbed her neck awkwardly and looked to Amity. “You don’t think that’ll be you and Emira… right?”

“Of course not, I’m very organized when it comes to medical stuff and despite what they seem, the twins are actually very responsible and reliable.” Amity said back.

“You sure about that Am?” Ed said as he crept up behind Amity, startling her. Amity gave him a quick jab in his side as a warning. Emira came around next and rested her chin on Amity’s head, messing up her hair.

“Oh nooo, Amity I have tetanus! Bring me to the hospital!” Emira joked.

“It’s amazing that I end up taking care of you guys even though i’m the youngest one.” Amity said begrudgingly. Luz giggled.

“It’s what makes you so great, Am. No offense Ed and Em, you guys are awesome too.” Luz said.

The twins shot some finger guns at Luz. “None taken. Anything for our baby sister’s _girlfriend_ ” they both said.

Luz blushed from ear to ear. “Did you…?

“No! Apparently they made a bet with Eda.” Amity said, pointing to the twins who were holding up their prize money.

“Oh yeah, Eda told me about that. Well, please don’t tell anyone Ed and Em. Amity and I want to take things slow and figure out our game plan from there. We do plan to tell the public though.”

Emira sighed. “Well would you look at that. The tables have been turned, haven’t they Luz? Now you’re asking me to keep your relationship a secret. I understand, don’t worry, I won’t tell.”

“I won’t either.” Ed chimed in.

Luz and Amity smiled at each other, taking each other’s hands. “Thanks guys.” They both said. After a quick glance, they seemed to exchange thoughts and ideas. Luz nodded to Amity who looked at Ed and Em in the eyes.

“Actually, can we ask you for one most favor?”

"Of course sis, what is it?" Emira asked. Before Amity could finish, Luz had gotten a call on her phone. She placed a hand on Amity's shoulder and gave her a worried look.

"The police contacted me since Eda and my mom aren't picking up. Eda for obvious reasons and my mom because she's at work."

Amity bit her lip. "And?"

"Jeremy wasn't found in his cell at the station this morning."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will be the confrontation with Bec ;)
> 
> Also, the timeline is a little off. The LMP animatic didn't come out until June 22nd but I wanted to have them see it earlier so oop.


	30. Chapter 30

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luz and Amity confront Bec

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No comments for before y'all read this. Have fun :)

“You guys are HORRIBLE at your jobs!”

Amity had to physically hold Luz back. She was furious. Ed and Em had driven all of them down to the police station so they could talk to the officers about Jeremy’s whereabouts. Luz was also concerned that Jeremy would come looking for her to use against Eda. Her best plan was to go to the police station and get more information. When they had arrived, the officers were standing out front talking amongst themselves.

“Luz, luz calm down. Let’s hear what they have to say.” Amity said, trying to keep Luz from cursing the officers out in spanish. Amity squeezed Luz’s hand tightly and gave her a worried look. Luz took a deep breath and nodded her head.

“So how’d he get out.” Luz asked.

“Larry was a dumbass and didn’t lock the cage all the way and then fell asleep on duty.” One policeman said, hitting another guy on the shoulder. Luz assumed that was Larry.

“So he just… walked out??? How did you guys not catch that??” Luz asked, getting more and more frustrated.

“We have no idea, okay? Sometimes we just mess up.”

“This is pretty big fucking mess up!” Amity tried to shake Luz’s hand to get her to stop. If she provoked the police more then they’d get nowhere. Pushing Luz to the side to cool off with the help of Ed and Em, Amity stepped up to talk to the officers.

“What about security cameras? Did you see what direction he went away from the station? Or any clues as to his plans? Did he mention hurting Eda?” Amity asked calmly. Between her and Luz, she had to be the cool and collected one. Luz had the right to be mad, but having a bunch of angry teenagers would do them no good.

“He headed East in the middle of the night. We already sent out a big search party. On the tapes he was talking about ‘getting help’. He definitely needs some. That kid is psychotic.” An officer said, crossing his arms.

Amity looked to Luz, then back to the officers. “Thank you for the information, we’ll make sure to stay on high alert-” Amity felt Luz put a hand on her shoulder from behind. After stepping forward, she gave the officers a serious look.

“A tip of advice so you can actually get him this time, he likes to use the alleyways. They’re like a maze, but they’re his territory. He knows them like the back of his hand.” That was all Luz said before she started to walk away and back to Ed and Em’s car. Amity thanked the officers again and ran after her girlfriend.

“Hey…” Amity stopped Luz before she got into the car. She gave her a tight hug and looked her in the eyes. “You okay? I can tell something is on your mind, what’s wrong?”

Luz hesitated for a second. Then she continued. “I don’t think Jeremy was looking for the kind of help that the police officers thought he was looking for. The good kind, I mean. I think he’s going to try and find Bec.”

“What makes you think that?” Amity asked. Her and Luz got into the car in the back and sat close to each other. Ed pulled the car away from the curb and started to drive away down the streets of LA.

“When Jeremy attacked me and Eda, he mentioned things about Bec somehow betraying him or something. It sounded like they were working together but that Bec was ghosting him. She didn’t hold up her end of some deal they made. Bec hasn’t texted me in a while so I don’t doubt that your statement on social media got her to back off. I imagine she’s lost right now and Jeremy is looking to use that to his advantage against us.” Luz explained.

“So you want to try and talk to her now. Go through with the plan? I mean we have Ed and Em right here. Do you think it’ll be safe?” Amity asked.

“We’ll make sure neither of you get hurt.” Em said, nodding to Edric.

Luz smiled. “Thanks guys. Amity, I want you to stay hidden. It should be a one on one talk between me and her.”

Amity frowned. “You sure about this?” She grabbed one of Luz’s hands and rubbed circles on the back of it. Luz rubbed her thumb over Amity’s knuckles.

“I’m sure. If anything bad happens, I know you, Ed, and Em will be there to help.”

Luz took out her phone and tapped on her messages. She scrolled to the fake Amity text conversations and started to tap out a message.

_ Luz: Bec, can we talk? _

Surprisingly, Luz received a quick response.

_ Amity: I thought you wanted me to stay away from you. Crawling back already? _

_ Luz: No, I just want to talk things out. Can we meet somewhere? _

Luz watched as dots appeared and disappeared. It took a while for Bec to respond. Clearly, she was typing something out and deleting it. Rewording things. Rethinking things. Bec had never done this before. She was always quick to what she wanted. She never hesitated. But for some reason, now she did. Eventually, Luz got a response.

_ Amity: Fine. Playground at our elementary school? _

_ Luz: Perfect :) _

Luz sighed. “Amity, I really hope this works out. I know she can learn… I just hope she chooses to.”

Amity put her arm around Luz. “You’ll be able to persuade her, don’t worry. Do you want to go over the plan again?”

Luz nodded her head and Luz and Amity started to talk about Bec’s mentality, reasons for why it’s the way it is, how to talk in a way she’ll understand, and how to suggest help to her. They also decided to go over things Luz shouldn’t say to her for fear that they may set something off inside of Bec.

  
  
  


Eventually, Edric had driven the group to an old playground. It was past when school got out so no one was on campus to catch them for trespassing. The playground was small and had wood chips for a floor. Luz always hated those kinds of playgrounds. The wood chips would give her splinters and she’d always cry about it. She remembered it was because she always got pushed off of the slide into the wood chips to make room for the older kids. They always bullied her because she was small and young and naive. Luz walked up to the slide, stuffing her hands in her pockets. She sighed and looked down at the wood chips.

This was also where Luz had met Bec. She had been having a particularly big problem with some older kids and Bec happened to be crazy enough to stand up to kids taller and older than her. Luz smiled as she thought about how sweet Bec was then. How much she missed that. They would come to this playground all the time. Luz looked over at the swings and took a seat in one.

Amity was standing behind a wall. Ed and Em were behind one's on the other side of Luz. They were trying to cover all of their bases. Amity wanted nothing more than to protect Luz. She trusted that girl but sometimes her stubbornness got her in trouble. Amity was there to cover for that. She nodded over to Ed and Em who gave her a thumbs up. They all gasped when they saw Bec trudge into the playground.

Her hair was frizzy and oily. It was dirty, much like how her clothes were. Her shoes were scuffed up and nothing about her indicated that she had been having a good couple of weeks. She had her arms crossed and she was looking away from Luz’s stare. Although, Luz could see the bags and dark circles under her eyes and the tired look on her face. The strained red eyes and the tear stains on her face and shirt. The hair that looks like it had been pulled at or pulled out. The patches of skin on her arms and hands and face that looked like she had been scratching at or picking. Luz sighed.

“What happened to you? To us…?” Luz asked. Bec took a seat in the other swing seat. She clutched the chains that held it up and dragged her decrepit shoes in the wood chips.

“Not everyone has family and friends who love them, Luz.” Bec spit out harshly. She was still turned away from Luz. She didn’t want to look her in the eyes. Luz hung her head.

“Bec… I want you to know that I believe in you… okay? I want to make things right between us.” Luz said earnestly.

“Then stop hanging out with Amity. Plain and simple. We could go back to when we were kids. When we didn’t give a flying fuck in the world what happened to us or who we became. I’d protect you from bullies and you’d make me smile…” Bec said softly. “Why’d that change…?”

“Bec… I can have friends other than you. In fact, i’m sure Amity and Willow and all of them would love to be your friend. But that’s  _ your _ choice. You have to choose to accept our love. I want to go back to elementary school too, Bec… but we can’t. We’re older now, and we have to change and adapt. If you would just open up a little bit-”

Bec stood up immediately. She clenched her fists and turned to Luz. Luz’s eyes widened. Bec was crying. Luz doesn’t think she had ever seen Bec cry before. The sight shattered her heart. Those tears… the look on her face, they were one of the saddest and most distraught she had ever seen. Bec held a tight jaw and her brows were rough, pointed downwards but holding a hint of fear. Her eyes seemed like ghosts, shells of what they once were. Luz thought back to elementary school. She used to look up to Bec. She remembered how brave Bec seemed to Luz, how strong she seemed. The smile she shone all the time… Luz couldn’t imagine all of the pain and anguish hidden behind that this whole time. 

When Bec finally spoke, her words were choked and her voice was raspy. She took a strong step towards Luz, who was still sitting calmly in the swing. “I  _ CAN’T _ just open up Luz! I thought I could to you but that just went down the drain. Just like any other time i’ve tried with people.”

Another step towards Luz. Getting closer. Luz was still calm. She knew Bec needed this. She trusted Amity to keep her safe. “How am I supposed to put trust into strangers when I can’t even rely on who I thought was my best friend??”

One final step and Bec was standing in front of Luz. Not even an inch away from her knees, she stood. Hands to her sides, nails digging into her palms. Hot tears falling onto Luz’s lap. Her head hung low, the greasy hair falling in front of her face. Luz wanted to reach up and do something, anything to somehow help. She stopped when she heard Bec softly speak. “All I wanted was to be happy with you again… you were the one person… one person who made me keep going… my motivation… can you understand how badly I don’t want to lose you?!”

The hands that were once clutching the chains of her own swing, were now desperately grasping Luz’s. Her arms were held above Luz’s head, hands on the chains. Bec was staring down at the ground, at her feet with a pleading look. She felt a hand come up and cup her face, wiping away some tears. Bec slowly, carefully brought her eyes up to meet Luz’s.

“Bec, you’re never going to lose me. I’ll admit… I was mad. I wanted you to hurt as much as I felt hurt. But… that won’t do either of us good. I want to help you, Bec. Please… let me help you…”

Bec’s heart raced. Her eyes darted everywhere but those soft brown eyes that stared at her with so much care. Bec couldn’t comprehend it. Her brain was racing. It didn’t want to believe that Luz could still like her after everything she’d done. Somewhere, deep inside, Bec didn’t feel worthy of Luz. Or of love. As soon as those walls seemed to crumble a bit is when her iron defenses were fortified. Bec inhaled sharply and removed one of her hands from the swing to hold Luz’s wrist firmly. She gripped it tightly, pulling it away from her face.

“D-don’t touch me!” She said. Her voice strained. It was her defense mechanism. She was so scared of showing Luz that she actually cared a lot. That she wanted to hug Luz and she wanted to just hang out with Luz again like old times. But her mind was sabotaging her and telling her Luz hates her and that that’s just how it will be. Denying the faults she has, she pinned them on anyone else she could find. And that was Amity. Bec dropped Luz’s hand when she refocused. Her heart sank again. There was Amity Blight. Once again, star diva of LA, the name everyone is talking about, someone loved by all, someone who could never understand what Bec felt, standing behind Luz with a stern look on her face.

Luz looked back and immediately panicked. “Amity! You didn’t need to- Just give us a little longer!”

“No Luz, the minute she gets physical with you is the minute I step in. We promised we’d protect you.” Amity said defiantly, staring Bec right in the eyes.

Bec stepped back. She was no longer crying. She was tired of being disappointed time and time again. She didn’t feel anything really. Just empty sadness and loneliness. She felt like the world was against her. She chuckled, some tears falling out. “You don’t want to help me Luz.” She started to turn around to walk away. “You don’t even trust me enough to know I would  _ never _ hurt  _ you _ . So much for love and friends and that bullshit…”

Bec was already running away. Luz reached out for her, screaming her name. Amity held her back. “BEC! BEC!” Luz felt stinging tears swell at the corners of her eyes. This whole time she had been trying to be calm. She couldn’t show Bec weakness, she couldn’t show her how hurt she was. But now with Amity, she let it all out. She pounded her hands on her thighs. “God DAMN IT! FUCK!” Luz’s chest heaved as she cried. Amity knelt down and held her. Luz cried into her shirt. “I’m so close Amity, so close! She's in there! I know it! She knows it! I JUST WANT EVERYTHING TO BE OKAY AGAIN!” Now Luz’s voice was straining. Her thick sobs rang through Amity’s ears.

Amity rubbed circles on Luz’s back. “Shh shh I know Luz, I know. But we gave her a second chance and she didn’t take it. That was the deal. One and done. You can’t help everyone… I-I don’t want this to affect  _ your _ health, Luz. We have to let go… we tried.”

“Maybe I didn’t try hard enough! What if it’s my fault, Amity?? She can have another chance! Let’s go get her!” Luz cried. She looked up at Amity, hoping to get her approval. Amity couldn’t help it. Her girlfriend was crying in her arms and pleading with her to give Bec another chance. Amity sighed.

“Ok, let’s go get her.”

Luz crushed Amity in a hug and thanked her over and over again. Wiping away her tears and taking some deep breaths, Luz stood up. The two of them ran after Bec, flagging down Ed and Em to follow them.

The group of four searched every place they could. The street they were on was quiet and had little to no people on it. This neighborhood was relatively meek and silent. Mostly old people. Luz and Amity held hands as they ran around. The sound of sneakers on the pavement echoed in the silence of the neighborhood. The pair stopped, panting. Luz pulled at her hair to which Amity quickly tried to get her to stop doing. And then… a scream. Bec’s scream.

Luz, Amity, Ed, and Em all ran to where it came from. An abandoned house, secluded in a corner of the neighborhood. Luz and Amity exchanged determined glances while Ed and Em agreed to back them up from behind. The four walked in.

Inside they saw Jeremy and Bec standing across from one another in a furnitureless wide open space. Luz, Amity, Ed, and Em all hid behind the wall to the room. They listened in on the conversation.

“Perfect prissy little Rebecca.” Luz could tell from the male voice that it was Jeremy who just spoke. “I know you’re scared. You act all tough and you put up this suit of armor but really, Rebecca, you’re terrified.”

“I’m  _ not _ scared of you, asshole.” Luz heard a familiar harsh tone. Bec seemed to be back to her normal self. Or at least that’s what she seemed like to face Jeremy.

“Really now? You’ve been avoiding me, my texts, my calls, and now I find you hiding in some abandoned house in a nobody’s neighborhood. You seem like you’re running.” Jeremy scoffed, chuckling to himself. “Aren’t we all though. I’m running... from the cops. But do tell, what are you? You, perfect, rich, spoiled, Rebecca?”

“Nothing that concerns you. I’m not in the mood to chat so i’ll just be on my way.” Luz could hear Bec’s voice get a little closer, indicating she was walking away.

Jeremy scoffed, louder this time. “Maybe it’s not physical… maybe you’re running from yourself Rebecca. Have you ever thought of that? You  _ HATE _ yourself. Don’t you? Don’t you Rebecca? You fucking despise yourself and you’ve already lost the only person that made you tick-”

“DON’T say her name. I don’t want to be reminded. And DON’T call me  _ Rebecca _ . That’s not my name.” Bec said.

“Aww does someone have mommy issues?? Daddy issues? Oh boy, both?? Wow aren’t you a little cesspool of fun. You and I are alike. Your family screwed you over and I lost mine. But you’re weak,  _ Bec _ . That's what makes us different. I can help you. I can make you strong.” Luz peeked her head around the corner. Jeremy had his hand reached out. Extended and acting as a deal between them. Bec had turned back towards Jeremy. She started walking towards him.

“No, no, no, Bec don’t…” Luz said to herself.

Bec stood in front of Jeremy. Glaring at him. She stuck out her hand too and went to grab his own. Luz watched, ready to be disappointed. But Bec took Jeremy’s hand and threw him over her shoulder. Catching him off guard. “I’m strong on my own. I’ve learned that from dealing with crazy violent people like you. Now go get a life and leave me alone.” Luz silently cheered to herself. She was glad Bec made that choice. It only meant that there was still some good in her. But as Luz kept watching, she saw Bec turn her back on Jeremy and start to walk away. Not realizing Jeremy was up and charging at Bec. Luz shot up and ran out, trying to get there in time. Amity, Ed, and Em tried to get her to stop blowing their cover but it was already too late.

“Bec! Behind you!” Luz yelled before Amity covered her mouth.

Bec turned around but not quickly enough to move out of the way of the charging Jeremy. He tackled her to the ground. A large crack could be heard and Bec cried out in pain. Ed and Em ran into the mix and separated the two, getting Jeremy to his feet for a 2 v 1 fight. It distracted Jeremy enough for Amity and Luz to run over to Bec. She was clutching her right ankle and wincing in pain. It was broken. Amity and Luz nodded to each other, taking one of Bec’s arms over each of their shoulders and trying to lead her out of the house.

“Why are you helping me??” Bec asked wildly as she limped away and out of the room.

“Oh I don't know, because we care about you?” Amity said. Bec gave her a glare before opening her eyes wide in shock.

Amity and Luz had gotten into the hallway now. Luz got out from under Bec’s arm and put a hand on Amity’s shoulder. “Get her out of here, i’m gonna help the twins. Call the police.”

“Whoa whoa whoa Luz, don’t you think  _ you  _ should take Bec to safety?” Amity asked.

“I said what I wanted to say at the playground. I think it’s time you two got to know each other.  _ Without _ a knife being involved.” Luz said.

“... no offense but what if there is?” Bec asked. “She gets on my nerves.”

Luz took a deep breath, clearly annoyed. “Bec, I trust you. I trust that you  _ won’t _ hurt Amity.”

“Well better give her a goodbye kiss or something before I murder her with, basically, your consent.” Bec said, rolling her eyes.

Luz hugged Bec. It was quick but it was still a surprise to both Bec and Amity. Once Luz released, she looked Bec in the eyes. “I know you, Bec. She won’t be dead when I come back.”

And with that, Luz ran back into the room to help Ed and Em. The goal was to keep Jeremy busy so he couldn’t escape before the cops came. Hopefully this time they would do a better job at restraining him and keeping an eye on him. Amity and Bec gave each other a disapproving look before they both begrudgingly hobbled out of the house.

  
  
  
  
  


By the time they got far enough away and Amity was able to get the police to come down, the two sat in an awkward silence on the sidewalk of a street. Amity wasn’t concerned with people or press finding her and recognizing her since she knew this neighborhood housed mostly old people. Still, it didn’t distract from her uncomfortableness being in the same space as someone who tried to attack her with a knife and then got her run over by a car.

Amity sighed. Bec furrowed her brows in response and tried to get up, standing on one foot so as to not put pressure on her broken ankle. “I’m gonna go. I don’t need to stick around, especially not with you.” Bec said harshly. She started to limp away but Amity stood up and walked in front of her.

“Listen… I've been thinking about us and we have a lot in common.” Amity said slowly, watching Bec’s face to caution her word choice.

“Why does it feel like everybody is telling me that today.” Bec said flatly.

Amity clenched her fists and took a deep breath. “Just… just hear me out, okay? First off, we both care about Luz. So why don’t we listen to her and try to get to know each other.”

“I don’t have to tell you anything about me. Neither do you since your whole life is out for the public to see. Huge mansion, wealthy loving parents, siblings who protect you, everything you want and more, freedom, fans that adore you no matter what you do, the spotlight. I don’t need to know more.” Said Bec. Those walls were up again and she wanted nothing to do with Amity at the moment. A part of her thought back to what Luz said about it being her choice to accept friends. She thought about how everyone had been willing to help her with Jeremy and had even come looking for her despite her outburst at Luz. Bec crossed her arms, trying to conceal those feelings. The feelings that made her want to open up were guarded by the fear of being hurt.

“Actually, you do need to know more. Because, like you, there’s more to the story. I am more than some well known actress. I am more than just a Blight. And Luz and I believe that you are more than someone who tried to hurt us.” Hope rose in Bec’s chest as she stared at Amity in confusion. Slightly intrigued to hear what she was talking about, her tight grasp on herself loosened a bit. Amity took note of this and kept talking.

“Fame is not what it’s cracked up to be Bec. You are met with expectations that you can never seem to fit and you are meant to satisfy other people. Never yourself. But at the same time, you can’t show that you’re struggling because you have a million eyes watching you. What you just said, about freedom, it's really quite the contrary… a lot of the time I feel-”

“Trapped?” Bec said, finishing Amity’s sentence. Amity widened her eyes at Bec. The girl had finally let her arms fall to her sides. She still looked away from the green haired actress but a part of her could feel that Amity really meant what she was saying. “I… I know how that feels. The high standards… people who expect you to be a certain way. You feel like you’ve been restrained and restricted. And… and you’re not  _ really _ happy. But… but you have to pretend to be.”

Amity smiled softly. “Right.” She said as she nodded her head.

Bec sighed. “My parents are like that. Expectations… and all that stuff. Yours are probably not as violent as mine are…” Bec’s breath hitched when she thought of nights spent in the hospital. Her doctor of a mom who did… unspeakable things to her under the pretense of “love” or “work”. She held herself again, but it was more of a way to comfort herself than to protect herself this time.

Amity reached out a hand and placed it on Bec’s shoulders, getting her to look up. “Bec… whatever happened to you… whatever horrible things you’ve had to endure… it wasn’t your fault. I’ve had to learn that being a public figure. My parents are… also not the best. Y’know… Luz tells me all about your guys’ adventures when you were kids.” Bec widened her eyes. Her mouth hung open a little. 

“She… she did?” Bec asked quietly.

Amity smiled. “She did. She wasn’t lying when she said she wanted to work things out.You know… the difference between me and you is how we dealt with our similar situations. I conformed to what my parents wanted. You rebelled.”

Bec looked away. “You’re right… and it just got me in more trouble. I mean..” She let out an exasperated laugh. “... look at me now.”

“I _ am _ looking at you, Bec. And even though we didn’t get off on the right foot at first, I still see you as a very determined and brave person. Luz does too. I understand why she looks up to you in a way. I would love to rebel against my own parents. I actually did by posting on social media without their permission while I was in the hospital. So yay for rebellion, amirite?” Amity held up a hand for a high five.

Bec only stared at it blankly for a second. She hesitated before bringing up her own hand to lightly tap Amity’s. “Yeah… sorry about that whole hospital thing…”

“I mean I was the one who jumped in front of the car so…”

“Yeah… thanks for that.” Bec rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. She wasn’t great at the whole “sorry” and “thank you” thing. She didn’t exactly know what to say and she was uncomfortable with how vulnerable the conversation had gotten. But it also allowed her to reflect on her own actions. She so badly wanted to lash out and cover everything with anger to drive Amity away. But she knew that Amity didn’t deserve that.

“I… think I was wrong about you… Amity Blight…” Bec said quietly. She wanted to throw up just hearing that come out of her mouth. She also wasn’t good at admitting she was wrong.

Amity ran a hand through her hair. “And I think I was wrong about you too Bec. I can tell that you have kindness somewhere in there… I hope that we can help you feel a little more comfortable embracing it rather than hiding it.”

“You’re a good friend to Luz… I feel like… god, such a fucking dipshit. I was just so… angry. Why do you guys even want to help me anyways. I’ve… done a lot of damage.” Bec said. The guilt and pain that she had been suppressing through the reasoning in her head spilled out.

“Well, the fact that you are admitting this and have the courage to recognize it… that only shows how you deserve a chance, Bec. Luz can’t be your only support source… but that doesn’t mean she can’t be one of many. We do want to help you, Bec. If you’ll let us.” Amity held out a hand. It was similar to how Jeremy had held out his hand to Bec earlier. But this time Bec knew it came from a place of genuine compassion. She reached out her hand. For a second, Amity was scared she’d body throw her… but instead, they shook hands. Bec nodded, looking at Amity in the eyes with a newfound respect. She still felt like shit… but if she had learned anything in the past 24 hours having to deal with Luz and Amity, it was that they did really want to help her get better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, that was a wild ride to write. I've come to really love Bec and how I've written her. Maybe she'll appear in other future fanfics of mine as she learns and grows and gets better. I put a lot of both how I feel and what I have experienced in her and Luz's dynamic. I hope y'all want to stick around to see where she goes. It'll reflect where I have gone since my own middle school problems. But for now, she won't be making any more appearances. 
> 
> See y'all Monday for the next chapter :) it gets a lot happier from here on out with most of the problems figured out.


	31. Chapter 31

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The actual filming of Grom!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (DISCLAIMER: The format might be a little wonky, not sure why my computer decided to change the line spacing on me halfway through.)
> 
> The rest of the chapters will basically be fluff :) My heart is happy and I love Lumity. They make me very soft and so I am PROJECTING my yearning onto them. Enjoy!

“You alright?”

Luz handed her girlfriend a water bottle after taking her hand. She rubbed small circles on the back of Amity’s hand and looked up at her with worried eyes. Amity was standing off to the side on the sidewalk, her eyes darting around and her arms crossed apart from the one holding Luz’s hand. She watched as the police officers carried Jeremy to the back of the police car. He was restrained better this time. His hands were cuffed behind his back and even his feet were cuffed too so he couldn’t run away. Luz was sure the officers had given him some drug to calm him down. He seemed a lot more calm from when he was trying to fight Edric, Emira, and Luz off of him. Amity took a deep breath and looked over to Luz.

“Yeah… i’m okay. Bec and I had a… talk. I think we got through to her. I got a car to come get her and take her to get a cast for her foot. She promised she’d look into therapy and keep in touch in the meantime.” Amity smiled and disconnected their hands for only a moment in order to hug Luz.

Luz held her for a second, arms wrapped around to her back. She smiled into Amity’s neck and once they broke, she reconnected their hands. “That’s great Am! That makes me really happy… it’s good she's getting the help she needs.”

Amity squeezed their hands together. “I’m proud of you too, y’know. It takes a lot to see the good in people who have hurt you. If you weren’t so insistent on helping Bec… I think she would have been like that forever.”

“Okay but it was you who got through to her. I just ended up fighting with her, like we always did.” Luz said quietly, looking down at her feet.

“Well then that was your guys’ last fight. She's trying to get better and that means you guys can be friends again.”

“I guess so.” Suddenly, Luz let out a sigh and dropped to sit on the side of the pavement. She watched as the police cars rolled away to cart Jeremy off for the last time and the Blight twins waved at the two of them to get in the car back home. By now it was starting to become sunset. Amity noticed them but decided to sit with Luz on the side of the road as well. She giggled to herself when she saw Ed and Em groan by the car. “I am _so_ tired… this whole thing has been so stressful.” Luz said, resting her head on Amity’s shoulder.

Amity felt her face heat up. She cursed to herself. Even in the midst of everything that had happened, Amity still found herself flustered around Luz. That giddy feeling she always got wouldn’t go away. Amity remembered being uncomfortable with it at one point. But now… now she used it as confidence. She put her arm around Luz as they stared out at the sunset. “Then let's do something fun together. A stress reliever of sorts.”

Luz sat up. Her eyes were filled with curiosity. “Like what?”

“Well… maybe we could go on a road trip together. Just the two of us?” Amity said cautiously.

Luz jolted up, staring at Amity now with excitement. “That would be so awesome! Let's do it!”

“Do what, Mittens?” Emira ducked her head between the two girls, interrupting their conversation.

“Em!” Amity exclaimed, falling backwards a little in surprise as she squeezed her eyes shut in anticipation. She felt a hand catch her before her head hit the concrete. Opening her eyes she looked up and saw a smirking Edric staring down at her.

“What are you two love birds planning?” He said, only making Amity more embarrassed.

“None of your guys’ business!” She cried out.

“Amity suggested we go on a road trip!” Luz said without thinking.

“Luzzz” Amity whined, making a slight pouty face. Ed and Em gave each other a knowing look. They immediately got to work teasing their baby sister.

“Oh! We wanna come!” Emira said as she squished Amity’s cheeks.

“Yeah! Mittens there's space right?” Said Edric as he annoyingly nudged Amity in the side.

Luz stepped in and pulled Amity out, subsequently pulling her close to her body and draping her arms around her girlfriend protectively. “Actually, sorry guys but Am and I were thinking it’d be an us thing. No hard feelings?”

“Ahhhh no no we get it. But you guys will have to elope _after_ we finish filming the rest of the episodes of The Owl House. You still have a job to do.” The twins said. They quickly ushered Luz and Amity into the car so they could finally go home.

“Right. Well… we’ll have it in the back of our minds I guess.” Luz said, smiling.

  
  
  
  
  


The next week, Amity was finally allowed to get back to filming. The crew had finished filming Agony of a Witch once Eda had gotten her tetanus vaccine. Lilith had plenty of funny stories to tell the team when they came in the next day. But it was going to be a long few weeks of filming as the crew tried to wrap up season 1. With the motivation of a road trip in the back of their minds, Luz and Amity were pumped to finally perform their Grom dance. There was one small catch though. The two hadn’t practiced since before Amity got injured.

“I don’t know Willow… I just don’t want to have to redo it over and over again and possibly hurt Amity. She _just_ got cleared to do physical stuff… but a whole dance? I’m just worried…”

Luz was standing on the set of Hexside’s hallways, talking to Willow and Gus. She scrunched up the ends of her Hexside uniform nervously. Anxiety filled her head of if they were ready to film this episode or not. She desperately didn’t want to delay filming for the rest of the crew but at the same time she didn’t want her girlfriend to get hurt. Willow noticed Luz’s obsessive worrying and put a hand on her shoulder, lightly shaking it.

“Luz, as much as your concern is adorable, Amity can take care of herself and I know you two will do great. Remember, you guys practiced at a dance studio with hardwood floors. This time you guys have a whole team of people to make sure you don’t get injured. Amity will be fine.”

“You’re right you’re right… I should stop worrying. I know we’ve got this! Yeah! We can do this!” Luz said, pumping her fists in the air. Willow smiled and took her hand off of Luz’s shoulder. Luz took a deep breath. She hoped what she was saying would translate to her thoughts and emotions. She wanted to believe everything would be okay but that didn’t stop her heart from racing and her forehead to start sweating in anticipation. Dana called for the cameras to start rolling and the gang heard her call _Action!_

“Hmm... something seems different today. Did _everyone_ get a haircut?” Luz asked, putting a finger to her chin.

“Oh yeah! I forgot you've never been here for the social event of the season.” Willow exclaimed with a little dance of the hands.

Gus spoke up and started his line. “Welcome to your first-” But he was interrupted by two extra actors coming through in masks and doctor uniforms. They were rolling a stretcher and making siren noises.

“Huddle away!” One of them yelled, getting the croad of background actors to disperse. The workers surround a student with dark skin, blonde hair that covers his eyes, and big, pointy ears per usual of the witch get up in the The Owl House universe. “Come with us immediately! Your disease- it's advancing!” The workers said frantically as they helped the boy onto the stretcher.

“Is there a cure, doc?” The boy asked.

The worker spoke in a serious tone at first before changing into a high pitched excited one. “Only one... finding the perfect date to Grom!”

Luz laughed to herself as she watched the boy proceed to hold up a prop heart with “GROM?” written on it in blue ink. As Skara accepted the invitation and hugged the boy, Luz wondered if she should make a gromposal out of the same prop heart to give to Amity as a joke. Speaking of which, the cameras were back on her as the scene continued.

“You guys have a version of prom on the Boiling Isles?? I was kicked out of my last school dance for dressing like an otter.” A true fact that Luz had given to Dana in her audition. Looks like Dana decided to use it. Luz put her hand on her hip and her other up to her head in a barbie pose to continue the scene. “But here, I can be your Grom queen!”

“That’s, uh, not something people usually sign up for” As Willow said that, Amity walked into the scene, distracted by the pink note in her hands. She walked straight into Luz’s back, dropping all her books, the note, and falling backwards with an “ _oof!”_

“Watch it! Nitwit!” Amity snapped as she looked up. “Oh! Hi Luz…” She looked over to Willow and Gus. “And co.” Willow and Gus smiled approvingly. “Sorry about that.” Slowly, Amity and Luz started to stand up.

“No problem, let me help you.” They both grabbed some of Amity’s books. Luz spotted the pink note, grabbed it, and held it up for Amity to see. “Here, your note!”

Amity was quick to snatch it out of her hands. “Woah, you’ve got some quick grabbers.” Luz said, making grabby hands.

Amity clutched her books to her chest, squeezing them tight so she didn’t break character at how cute Luz was. “It’s just- it’s private”

As the rest of the scene played out, the students murmured over the sound of the speaker announcing this year's Grom Queen. The cameras panned out so that all of the gang as well as some more background characters could be seen. Finally, Luz jumped up in excitement as Amity’s name was called.

“WHOO! Am-i-ty! Get it queen!” She exclaimed, making finger guns in Amity’s direction and holding up a high five.

Amity however was looking horridly uncomfortable. She glanced around at the other students before dashing off camera.

“Don’t leave me hanging!” Luz yelled as a different camera framed the shot around her face.

“You might want to give her some space. Being Grom Queen is a tough job, even for Amity.” Willow said, placing a hand on Luz’s shoulder.

“Cut! Perfect! Perfect! Great job guys. Lets move to the gymnasium set and then we’ll change into the Grom outfits.” Dana called out.

Luz quickly gave Willow and Gus a high five before running after Amity. Since their Hexside outfits were used for the hallway scene and the first gymnasium scene, the crew figured it’d be easier if they stayed on that set and just changed into the grom outfits to film the grom fight there. Then, since they were now in formal clothes and didn’t want to go through the trouble of changing out of them, they’d film the rest of the scenes like the grom dance and ending scene. They had already filmed the scenes at the Owl House in the days leading up to this filming day. The team was doing pretty good at keeping up to schedule that they were even a little ahead of schedule. If this kept up, they’d be able to get Enchanting Grom Fright to the editors before next week. Luz kept this in mind when she ran up and surprised Amity with a hug from behind.

“Hiya grocery girl! Awesome job with the last scene!”

Amity felt Luz’s arms wrap around her waist and a mischievous smile on the back of her neck. “Luz! You scared me!” Turning around and removing Luz’s hands, Amity scoffed. “I barely talked for the last scene, it was nothing.”

Luz stuck out her tongue. “Well I think every scene you film is amazing because you’re amazing so ha!”

Amity blushed. “Argh stop it! I need to be calm for the next scene!”

The two walked side by side to the gym, giggling to themselves on the way there. Luz was sure to crack a few bad jokes and some puns while Amity was trying to keep her cool. She was doing a terrible job. By the time they made it to the next set, Dana was already commenting on the makeup people needing to touch up Amity’s foundation. Amity gave Luz an annoyed look but ultimately couldn’t help the smile she brought to her face. Luz on the other hand was half heartedly apologizing and trying to help the make up artists.

  
  
  


After getting the gym scene done, plus a little bit of messing around with the various prop weapons and lots of laughter, it was time to film grom. The girls had separated into different dressing rooms so they could get ready. Amity had already gotten into her pink dress. The skirt portion of the dress was now perfectly tailored to be at her knees and the sleeves had been ironed out so there were no wrinkles. Amity waited on set impatiently to see Luz’s outfit. Her eyes darted around and her hands found their way to her skirt, bunching it up in her hands. She felt a hand come and slap her hand away from her dress, startling her.

“Relax Mittens, you can gay panic when we film Wing It Like Witches.” Emira had creeped up behind Amity along with Edric who was coming in on the other side.

“You are such a hypocrite Em, I _just_ saw you drooling over Viney’s outfit.” He said.

“It’s not fair though! Viney isn’t even in this episode but her suit looks so- wOw” Emira was now covering her face in embarrassment from it already starting to heat up and get red. Amity giggled.

“If she’s not in the episode, why is she here?” Amity asked.

“She was supposed to be in this episode as my date but when I talked to Dana about our screen time together, she took her out.” Emira frowned. “But she suggested we go on a dinner date after we film and came in formal wear to match me. Thank god I don’t have any speaking lines, I wouldn’t be able to talk straight.”

“Ha… straight.” Edric commented. He received a well deserved punch in the shoulder from both Amity and Emira. The trio heard music start and watched as the crew started filming. First was a wide shot of the dance floor which Ed and Em quickly got in place for before returning to Amity’s side to tease her more. Willow was dancing around, doing finger guns to three lucky background characters with corsages. Then Alex, Gus, and Eda had a few lines and soon it was Amity’s scene.

The green haired actress looked around some more frantically for her girlfriend. She received the pink note from a crew member as she stepped into place. Taking a deep breath, she trusted that the crew knew where Luz was since she was supposed to appear in this scene after all. With a quick change of cameras, Amity peered into the hallway of the gym, glancing at the pink note in her hands. She heard footsteps and immediately looked up.

“I'm not sure if it's nerves or if I accidentally drank some milk, but something's making my stomach squirm.”

Amity’s jaw dropped and her eyes went wide. She dropped the pink note and instead held her hands up to her mouth in shock. Luz was wearing a tailored black and purple tuxedo jacket over a pressed and ironed crisp white button up. An a-dork-able baby pink tutu frilled out from under the tailcoat and jutted in all directions before stopping above her knees. Her matching purple leggings stuck against her legs showing a little bit of muscle as they ended at her mid calves. On her feet were brown boots that went up her ankles and made her slightly taller. Although not tall enough as Amity was still staring at her slicked back hair thanks to her heels. Suddenly, everything went out the window for Amity.

“Luz! You- I- um, wow! You look- I don’t even know how to describe it but I haha i’m going through a lot of emotions right now WOW, um, shit, these aren’t the correct lines are they”

Laughter could be heard from all corners of the set. At the forefront sat Dana, practically falling out of her chair. “They were not, Amity, but they very well could be!” Dana cried.

Amity looked around in horror at the cameraman also dying of laughter behind the camera that was staring directly at Amity’s face. Which was beet red like it was in Lost In Language. Amity dug her black nails into the palms of her clenched hands.

Luz giggled and walked over to her, taking one of her hands in her own and twirling her around. “Sorry Am, I wanted to get your reaction on camera. It was _very_ cute.” Luz continued to snicker mischievously. Once Amity processed what Luz had said, she was red hot mad. Luz’s giggling quieted down when she saw the look and Amity’s face. Sure enough, Luz was running down the hall trying to escape Amity’s wrath.

  
  
  


It took Eda, Willow, Gus, Edric, Emira, Dana, and Alex to keep Amity from killing Luz. They were mostly trying to remind Amity that Luz would still need her head if they were going to finish filming. Thankfully, Amity calmed down. Luz profusely apologized and Amity explained that she wasn’t really mad. Just to never do that again.

“Okay, now I'm sure you know the actual lines but it was supposed to be ‘You look nice. Strange, but... nice.’ which is a lot more toned down than what you gave us. We’ll keep it in the blooper reels though” Dana winked. “Also, make sure to hide the Gromposal in your dress pockets when Luz speaks.”

“Right, right, got it. I should be okay now. Totally focused.” Amity said while offering two awkward thumbs up.

“ _Completely_ focused. Right.” Dana smirked, knowingly.

Amity let out a groan and returned to her starting position to redo the scene. This time she remembered to hide the Grom note. Amity couldn’t help but laugh to herself. _Of course Luz would do something silly like that._ She thought. Memories of time spent with her filled Amity’s head. From lunch dates that weren’t formally called dates yet to gifts given in the hospital. Or not even material things, the nights they spent listening to music and just talking to each other. The heart to heart moments they had where Amity finally felt heard and understood and cared for. When she finally felt like her own person, it was when she was being herself in front of Luz. Because with Luz, she never felt like she had to be perfect or act a certain way to gain her approval. And now, here she found herself standing in front of her filming a _very_ queer coded scene in a _very_ queer coded show as a _very_ queer coded character. 

“You look nice. Strange, but... nice. And…” Sometimes the heart just has a way of spilling out. “... thank you, Luz. Honestly, I'm kind of amazed with how fearless you are. You've done things I could never do.” Amity felt so much in that moment that she barely realized Dana had yelled cut and Luz was now looking at her with very questionable but loving eyes. It took Dana yelling again to bring her back into reality. Amity groaned, covering her face with her hands again. “I did it again, didn’t I… ?”

Dana smiled. “Yes… but I actually like it. Sounded very heartfelt and actually works with the story. So, I would like to keep it in. How about a small bit of improv between you two? If I still like it, we’ll continue the scene. If not, I'll call cut.”

Amity sighed in relief. It was good to have Dana as your boss. She was very understanding. With a confident look, Amity said, “Okay! Third times the charm!”

  
  


It was getting to be the last hours of the work day and the crew still wanted to film one last scene. The dance. Luz and Amity had had this on their minds all day, all week really. They had no time to practice beforehand since they had been filming their scenes so they had no idea how this was going to go. It took a bit of extra time to set up the safety mats and mechanism for the grom monster as well as Amity’s abomination. Then the girls had to be educated on the harnesses they were wearing that would assist them in the dance and for their safety. By the end, the crew only had a bit of time to film this scene. It should be short, only a few minutes. As long as everyone got their parts down perfectly. Everyone knew that it really meant Luz and Amity getting their dance right in the first few tries.

“You ready?” Luz asked Amity as they waited to start filming.

“Ready as I'll ever be.” Amity replied, taking Luz’s hand and squeezing it tight.

“Please let me know if anything is hurting you, okay? I know you got cleared by the doctors for acting but performing a whole dance sequence is a different story. I just don’t want you to get injured.” Luz pulled Amity’s hand, bringing her girlfriend in for a hug. Luz held Amity as if her life were on the line. Amity rolled her eyes as she smiled to herself. Luz could be a little dramatic sometimes but it always came from a good heart. She found it sweet.

Breaking away from their hug, Amity put her hands on Luz’s shoulders. “Luz, i’ll be okay. I promise.”

“Okay… but just to make sure, I've been lifting a bunch off weights to prepare so I _don’t_ drop you.” Luz said while flexing her arms. Amity shook her head while smirking. Whatever muscles Luz was trying to show off was hidden under her sleeves. It made Amity laugh which was Luz’s real goal. Then, they heard a yell from Dana to get into places. And soon enough, the scene started.

“ _Action!_ ”

Amity Luz got through the first part of the scene fine. Luz had to restrain herself from laughing when she saw Amity perched on a green screen ledge above Eda. It was going to be turned into a tree during the editing process but in real life it looks hilarious. With a triumphant yell, Amity jumped down and ran to block Luz from the _very_ intimidating mechanism that would be CGI-ed into Grometheus. Amity’s harness pulled her up, mimicking her being caught in Grom’s clutches. She spoke her lines with so much authentic desperation and fear that Luz had an easy time calling out to her in distress for the continuation of the scene. The emotions were real.

Amity was brought down to the ground by the harness and an extra actor dressed in a body suit came up to act as Grom. The pink note was torn and Amity was left to clutch her dress. A notion that hadn’t been written into the script but Dana decided to keep when she realized it was just one of Amity’s habits. Luz ran up from behind, taking the part of the pink note that the crew had told her to grab in her hand. Unravelling it she finished her lines.

The sound team queued the girls by playing Grom’s roar. This was it. The big moment everyone was anticipating. The Grom dance. Hasn’t been practiced in weeks but the girls already were aware of that. They had practiced it so much before though so they prayed that their muscles knew what to do when the music came on. 

“Well then, if that’s settled, may I have this dance?” Amity had been waiting to say those words all day. She had wanted to say them at the gym when there was an actual dance floor to dance on. She thinks she dreamt of saying those words in her sleep while she was out in the hospital. With an extended hand, she reached out to Luz with a confident look. Luz accepted the offer and the two brought each other close. Hand in hand and around waists. Even after countless hours spent redoing and rehearsing these steps, the girls were still nervous from each other’s touch.

The musical footsteps of a piano could be heard through the speakers of the studio. The room seemed even more silent than usual when they filmed, apart from TJ Hill’s beautiful composition of the salsa like sound that Luz and Amity were about to dance to. A progression of these notes rang through the set and bounced off of the green screen walls. Looking to the camera, Luz and Amity jutted out their intertwined hands and began to dance.

Breaking apart and coming back together while always maintaining some form of a link between them. Always connected, they spun and picked up and were picked up. Amity felt a smile creep up her face as she stared down at Luz in bliss. The feeling of air coasting through her hair and whisking past her ears and neck was an exhilarating feeling to be added to Luz picking her up and twirling her around. When their feet hit the floor, they both realized how different this was from dancing in a flat hardwood floored dance studio.

They were on a hill and they had limited space. They had to keep their harnesses in mind as well as where Grom was in relation to them. They had to remember to step up onto the platform that would act as Amity’s abomination and they had to do all of this while perfecting their step sequence.

It felt like a century before they reached the platform. Suddenly, they were pushed into the air and they had to keep their cool. Neutral faces were worn and they continued to dance. They didn’t think twice about if it was good or not, they were just lost in the moment. The memories flooding back of the dance practices they had and the hours they spent on this one moment. At one point, Luz flared out her plant glyphs and was able to give Amity a smug look through her cards. She felt Amity’s hand hold her waist as she was dipped and spun around, slapping the platform with her plant glyphs.

The two jumped away and landed safely on an air mat before quickly getting back into place. Luckily, the camera had to pan onto Grom in order to see it getting filled with plants and flowers. A beautiful scene that both Luz and Amity loved. It, in a way, depicted them. The beautiful flowers blooming out of a fear monster of darkness. They both had spent several texting sessions just geeking out over the symbolism of the scene for their characters while holding their personal thoughts of how it related to their experiences so far to themselves.

Lastly, before the camera panned back to Luz, she had to toss Amity up into the air. It would be easier and require less muscle thanks to the harness that Amity was wearing, but catching her was the harder part. It always had been. Luz watched Amity soar in the sky. Time seemed to slow just as it did that first time Luz caught her. Luz thought back to that day at the dance studio. The determination she had then bubbled up in her now. As Amity came crashing down, the two somehow felt a mutual trust. Just as Amity was about to hit the floor… Luz was thinking, and Amity knew exactly what.

_I will catch you._

Amity found herself swinging around as the energy of the fall was absorbed. As she opened her squeezed eyes, she found her feet meeting the ground and her eyes falling on Luz’s. They reconnected their hands and stood in their ending position. They felt air blow through them from Grom’s direction but didn’t think twice about it being the crew. Their hair became messy from the blast but they still smiled to each other, still trying to contain their emotions. All of the excitement and nervousness they both possessed. The music had reached its climax and faded off into nothingness.

The girls panted. A crew member ran out to give them their tiaras before the camera was done filming Grom exploding. Once the camera was back on, they smiled at each other once last time, Amity blushing a little.

“Sooo… who did you wanna ask out?” Luz asked cheekily.

“Oh, it’s… not important.” Amity said, tossing the other half of the note away.

Alex interrupted the moment in a booming voice. “And there you have it, folks. A happy ending for this year's Grom. Let's give a big hand to our Grom queens, Luz and Amity!”

A bunch of characters ran out onto the scene to pick up Luz and Amity while yelling and screaming. Once they were out of frame and the scene was done, the rest of the crew began to clap and cheer. A few pumped their fists while Dana just sat there with her mouth hanging open.

“I… I think that was a perfect take!” She said, almost speechless.

Luz smiled at Amity, taking her hand and bowing. “We did it.” She said, looking to Amity with pride in her eyes.

“Never doubted we wouldn’t” Amity said with a wink.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I think there will be 2 more chapters. I want to write Wing It LIke Witches and if it goes like how this one went, then it will probably be it's own chapter. I had originally intended this to be both Grom and Wing It Like Witches but I got carried away with the gay. Anyways, Wing It lIke Witches is next, then the road trip, and finally some ending things wink wink. All good and fluffy. This has been wonderful to write but everything has to come to an end. I may write one for season 2, let me know. It'd handle different topics and probably focus on the progression of Luz and Amity's relationship as well as the little rewrites of the episodes.
> 
> I have released a very obscure look at what my next fanfic will be but I am not yet done planning it. So next Monday when the second to last chapter comes out, I will ask y'all a choice of what you want to see next.
> 
> Until then... drink water, eat good food, get some sleep, and take care of yourselves!


	32. Chapter 32

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second to last chapter!! This is all about Wing It Like Witches so I hope you all enjoy! These are getting gayer and gayer as they go on so I'm really excited for the next and final chapter ;)
> 
> PLEASE READ NOTES AT THE END

The weeks were only getting busier. Dana and the crew were running around in circles trying to give one last push for the final episodes to get filmed and to the editors. The energy in the studio was thick and stressful and suddenly they all realized how close they were to the end. At least close to a break. Luz lost count of how many times she related the familiar chill of finals week when she was still in public school to the current circumstances. The cast was equally busy trying to do their jobs the best they could. Eda and Lilith have never been more focused and Luz had never been more determined. It was finally Monday and everyone was ready for the last two episodes the crew had to film. Wing It Like Witches and Young Blood Old Souls. Two very different episodes that would take a lot of energy from the crew. Not to mention they were booked for a few interviews here and there from The Owl House gaining more traction and more of a fanbase. The stress of being in the final stretch seemed to be getting to Amity and everyone was taking notice.

“Hey, Am!” Luz said. Whenever she saw her girlfriend walking around the studio she made sure to greet her with a hug from behind. Usually, Amity would react with a squeak and a tomato red face. She never seemed to get used to Luz’s mischievous antics. But today Luz felt her shoulders tense and her jaw clench. “You okay?” Luz asked, letting go of Amity and taking hold of one of her hands.

“Yeah, I’m okay… just a little in my head,” Amity replied while massaging her temples. “It gives me a headache sometimes.”

Luz frowned. “Is there anything I can do?”

Amity let out a sigh. “No… sadly. I’m just really looking forward to going on that road trip when this is over and getting to spend some more time with you.”

“You don’t spend enough time with me here?” Luz teased. “Can’t get enough of me hm?” She wiggled her eyebrows, earning a small smile from Amity.

“I can’t,” Amity said as she brought Luz in for a hug. The girls held each other for a few moments and as they pulled away to look at each other again, Amity gave Luz a quick peck on the cheek. This time Luz was bearing the tomato red face. She placed a hand to her cheek where she had felt the kiss. 

“Well I'm assuming you’re feeling better?” Luz asked, brushing off the flurry of butterflies that small gesture had given her.

“I am, thank you, Luz.”

“Good. Have you seen the fans’ reactions to Adventures in the Elements?” Luz asked excitedly.

“Yes! I’m getting tagged in so much fan art and fan edits! I may or may not have let a blush slip out during filming and they didn’t edit it out so now the fans are shipping us even more.” Amity giggled.

Luz put a hand around Amity’s waist and pulled her in with a smirk. “I mean… we _do_ look pretty good together don’t ya think? We’d make a pretty awesome couple.” Amity rolled her eyes as she pushed Luz away. But her grasp was too tight and now she was smothering Amity in kisses on her cheeks and nose. She carefully avoided Amity’s lips so that she didn’t jump the gun without Amity’s consent. The girl’s giggles filled Luz’s heart with joy and pride. Eventually, Luz let her go and they continued to the place they were going to film the episode.

  
  
  
  


By the time the girls got there, Boscha was already finishing her solo scenes. Amity had to go to hair and makeup quickly to get ready for the next scene, so Luz decided to take a seat and wait her turn while she watched Boscha. The pink-haired actress tore off a page of a calendar, revealing “Grudegy season” in all caps and red marker. She disappeared behind a door that led nowhere and once Dana had called cut, returned onto the set. Luz was about to get up to say hi to her but was beat to it by Willow. A flash of dark hair whooshed past Luz and ran up to Boscha, clutching her arm and complementing the now blushing actress. Luz smiled. It was nice to see Boscha so awkward when it came to Willow. _Makes her seem nicer and is hilarious to watch_ Luz thought to herself before joining them.

“Hey Boscha, ready for me to kick your ass in Grudgeby?” Luz said. Her sudden appearance prompted Willow and Boscha to quickly detach from each other and hide their once connected hands. Willow stayed silent but Boscha was quick to cover it up through her usual attitude.

“Don’t forget, I won the game in canon though so don’t get your hopes up too high.” She smirked. Luz was about to retaliate but Boscha prompted a hard _oomf!_ From being jabbed in the side by Willow.

“By catching the ‘Rusty Smidge’, which shouldn’t even count since we score more goals!” Willow said as she high fived Luz. Now she stood by Luz’s side. Although she loved her girlfriend, Willow knew that she’d choose Luz’s team any day. They had become pretty great friends since they met each other at the first meeting for The Owl House. Willow nodded to Luz, a look of determination and confidence running along both of their faces.

Soon, the three of them were also called into makeup and hair so that they could get ready for their scenes. They weren’t at the studio today. Today the team had booked some time at an old high school in a lesser-known part of LA. It was a huge private school that got closed down because of a scandal in the 80s. Apparently the staff were harboring a serial killer and convincing kids to join a cult. A wonderful place to be filming their sports episode.

The school _did_ have a very large football field, however. The grass had been torn up a decade ago and replaced with concrete though so it acted as the perfect place for them to film Grudgeby. A little bit of extra money went into cleaning the place up and repainting the lines and symbols on the field to make it more Grudgeby-esque rather than football. But the end result was a secluded place for the team to work.

After getting ready, it was already 10 am, so Dana quickly went over the plan for today. The Boscha scene at the beginning of the episode was easy and quick to film so they decided to bring the small set design with them to the school. From there, they wanted to film all of the Grudgeby scenes since this was the only day the crew was allowed to go to the school. It always seemed to work this way, all of the time that they had been filming these episodes. They always do the hard work first and then the difficulty of the scene progressively gets easier as the week continues. As soon as everyone was ready, Luz, Willow, and Gus stood in the middle of the field.

One of the head coordinators of the stunts came to talk to them before they started filming about the stunts they’d be doing. “So the effects and stunts are going to be a little different since we’re not in the studio. Basically there will be cranes outside of the shot that will attach to you through a harness and you’ll get pulled in different directions according to the scenes. For the last scene, Willow.”

Willow nodded to show she was listening. “You and Gus will be thrown up into the air and will land on an air mat but that air mat is going to be edited to look like a plant that you magic in. So, while you’re in the air, you’re going to need to remember to make a circle towards the air mat.”

“Sounds good, got it,” Willow said. 

As soon as the camera was rolling, Willow and Gus started to run away from various places. There were extra actors in their places dressed in neon green bodysuits so that they knew where to run to. With every yank and tug of their harnesses, they swayed around the Grudeby field like two horrible ballet dancers. They both screamed in unison as every twist and turn, flailing their arms and getting ready to get launched into the air. Once they were up, Willow quickly tried to turn around and draw a circle with her hand but found herself face-first into the air mat.

“Thorns…” she muttered, it was muffled from being smashed into the air mat but Gus could hear what she had said.

“Hey, don’t worry. You’ll get it on the next try!” Gus said.

Willow gave him an appreciative nod as she rose from the air mat and got back on her feet. The two repositioned to the middle of the field and once again, Luz blew her whistle, throwing the Grudgeby ball high into the air.

Once again, Gus and Willow zig-zagged around the field. They were met with the sky and the air blowing through them and Willow quickly turned, raising her hand to draw the circle… but again she fell flat on the air mat before she could even get halfway. With a groan, she pulled Gus along to get it right. Under her breath she said something along the lines of “Gotta get it right, gotta do it this time” and Gus had never seen her so fired up. It was always inspiring to see the other more experienced actors get hyper-focused and so it just pushed Gus to do everything ten times better.

  
  
  


But even ten times apparently didn’t work in their favor. By the eleventh, Willow was banging her hands on the air mat. Gus was starting to realize she wasn’t as pumped up as he thought she was, but rather frustrated and angry. Even though Gus could have done this scene a hundred more times just because he loved stunts, Willow didn’t.

“Hey, let’s keep trying! I know it’s frustrating but we’ll get it eventually. We have to!” Gus said, attempting to reassure his friend.

Willow stopped banging her hands on the air mat and sighed. “I know I know… but every time I fail I can hear Boscha’s laughter get even louder.”

“She’s not laughing though?”

“In my head is what I mean. She’s gonna make fun of me for this later.” Willow said, biting her lip nervously.

“Welll… Boscha is… Boscha, but you don’t know that. And hey, she’s your girlfriend, right? She’s gonna support you no matter what! And if she doesn’t, Luz, Amity, and I will handle her.” Gus didn’t know Boscha very well but he glanced to the sidelines of the Grudeby field and saw Boscha looking towards Willow nervously.

Willow noticed and blushed, turning her head away in embarrassment. “It’s not that she’d making fun of me to be mean, I just want her to see that I can do this. Sometimes she gets insecure about her own acting and projects onto other people. She said that watching me act was something really special for her and I just wanna keep being her inspiration I guess…” Willow said softly, the blush had now turned from embarrassment to endearment.

Gus smiled. “Well sitting here doing nothing won’t do anything about that. Let’s give it another go!”

The two helped each other up and ran back into the middle of the field. This time, they were sure they’d do it. And they did! With a carefully timed turn from previous failed attempts, Willow was able to do a quick 360 and draw the circle without slamming her face into the air mattress. When she stood up, she saw and heard Boscha cheering for her from the sidelines. Willow flashed her a smile and started giggling when Dana told her to be quiet on set.

  
  
  
  


After Luz, Amity, and Willow filmed a quick scene with Boscha and her crew before the start of the Grudeby game, they all got to watch Eda and Lilith duke it out in a smaller version of the Grudeby field. This field was off to the side of the school and was made out of lines in the dirt. The crew brought big green screen backdrops to edit The Owl House into the background. They also, of course, decided to bring the animatronic Hooty who was already being played with by Alex.

As he opened and closed the metal beak of the animatronic, he also started singing Gravity Falls songs to Dana in Hooty’s voice. Dana was laughing all over herself and shoving Alex to keep herself from getting too off track. Amity, Luz, Willow, and Boscha looked at them with raised eyebrows.

“That Hooty animatronic thing always creeps me out,” Amity said, running a hand through her hair.

“Oh, you only say that cuz it had to get up in your face during the Grom episode.” Boscha teased, nudging Amity in the cheeks as if she were Hooty, to Amity’s annoyance.

“I have never been more uncomfortable in my entire life. Serves it right to get beaten up.” Amity said coldly, glaring at the animatronic from across the field.

“ _It_ does not deserve to get beaten up, _It’s_ not even alive,” Luz said but quickly catching herself upon falling under Amity’s glare. “But I support your decisions,” Luz said quickly, putting a hand around Amity’s shoulder. Amity nuzzled into her neck like an affectionate cat.

“Oh my god please stop being so homosexual.” Boscha sneered.

“BOSCHA!” Both Luz and Amity yelled back.

“Willow is literally _wearing_ your Grudgeby jacket, _THAT_ is pretty gay,” Amity said, pointing at Willow.

“You’re just jealous you don’t have a cool Grudeby jacket to give to your girlfriend.” Boscha said proudly, jutting her chin and nose up into the air triumphantly like she just won the “best girlfriend” award.

“Actually, I do. Let me go get it.” Amity said, getting up from under Luz’s arm and jogging over to the crew.

Luz smiled and turned back to Boscha and Willow. She smirked.

“Y’know _this_ …” She twirled her finger at the both of them. “Should have a name. A ship name. You guys gave us one, it’s only fair we give one to you.” Boscha and Willow both flared up red in the face and gave each other a panicked look. “I’m thinkin… Fire Flower! Because Boscha has her whole fire theme this episode and Willow is all about plants and flowers. Also Mario references are cool.”

“I agree, Mario references _are_ cool. But that’d be hard to coin as ours. I’m sure there are a bunch of ‘Fire Flower’ ships out there.” Willow reasoned. “Try again.”

“Okay… what about-” Luz was cut off by the shriek of the Clawthorne sisters.

“WE’RE DOING THIS IN HEELS?!?” They both screamed. Dana only nodded, a little afraid to dare to say anything.

“Well, it’s not the worst thing I’ve had to do in heels,” Eda said.

“Wait what? Edalyn what aren’t you telling me??” Lilith asked, putting her hands on her hips like the older sister she was.

“God you look like mom,” Eda said, copying her movements and mocking them with a grin on her face.

“Good thing mom was the better one at sports.” Lilith smiled. The two sisters took the ball from Dana and glared at each other with silent sibling rivalry between them. “This reminds me of when we would play basketball.”

“Yep, and remember who always won?” Eda smirked.

Lilith huffed angrily and Dana started to film. As the two sisters got to work trying to duke it out in a Grudgeby game, completely ignoring the script they had been given and just competing to see who could win, Amity was coming back from the crew.

“Sorry that took so long, they decided to just do my makeup for the next scene since I was asking for the jacket- Luz? Why are you staring at me like that?” Amity said. Luz was giving her a wide-eyed look while covering the lower half of her face in shock. A light tint of pink was sprayed along her cheeks.

Amity seemed to sparkle in the afternoon sun. Her foundation had been touched up by the crew and she now sported green face paint under her eyes giving her a badass look. Her eyeliner was so sharp it could cut one of the Grudeby balls in half. Highlight adorned her cheekbones and her lips shone with a light layer of gloss. Luz was trying hard not to collapse on the spot. “Y-you just… you look… um” Luz took a big gulp, trying to work out what she was trying to say without Boscha and Willow making fun of her for it. Too late.

“Hey Luz, you look like you really like Amity’s lip gloss. You keep staring. Maybe you guys should share it-” Willow gave Boscha a swift jab in the gut at the comment she had just made. Now Amity was also blushing furiously and was about to cover her face in embarrassment but Luz quickly stood up to grab them, keeping them from her face and not realizing how close she now was. Willow and Boscha were dying of laughter on the side.

“No! Don’t cover it, you’ll mess it up!” Luz cried.

“Luz are you crying??” Amity asked seeing small tears form in the corner of her girlfriend’s eyes.

“You’re just really… really beautiful” Luz sniffed, drooping her head onto Amity’s chest. Amity rolled her eyes while smiling. She brought a hand to pat Luz on the back and draped her Grudgeby jacket over Luz’s shoulders.

“Well I hope this helps, you dummy,” Amity said, ruffling Luz’s hair as she rose from Amity’s chest. Luz zipped up the jacket and hugged herself in it.

“I’m keeping this.” She said quickly, running behind Boscha and Willow as if Amity was gonna steal it back from her. “Oh! By the way, we’re trying to come up with a ship name for these two right here.”

“Have you tried Fire Flower?” Amity asked.

“Yeah! I had suggested th-”

“LUZ! AMITY! WILLOW! BOSCHA!” Boomed Dana from across the field. Eda and Lilith were wiping their foreheads from their Grudgeby match and collapsing on the sidelines while spraying water all over themselves. Dana continued to yell at the girls. “STOP BEING GAY AND GO GET READY FOR YOUR SCENE! AND GIVE BACK THE JACKETS YOU DUMB TEENAGE HOMOSEXUALS”

The four of them got up and walked to Dana, hiding their faces. Luz and Willow had given the Grudeby jackets back to their respective owners, much to their discontent. 

“Y’all are adorable but what was that all about?” Dana asked.

“We’re trying to figure out a ship name for Boscha and Willow,” Luz said.

“Easy, Boschlow. I’ve had that one in my head for a while. Now go do your scenes.” Dana said, quickly shutting them up and turning them towards the crew for Grudgeby outfits.

The four girls just stood there with their jaws on the floor.

  
  
  
  
  
  


In the middle of the week after filming most of Wing It Like Witches, Amity came home sore from Grudeby. She dropped her bag in the living room and sauntered up the stairs to her room, promptly collapsing on her bed and letting out a relieved sigh. “Mother, Father, i’m home!” She yelled. No response. Amity sat up, looking around confused. “Mother? Father? Are you guys home?” She asked the house. Again, no response. With a groan, Amity got to her feet and started to walk out of her room but was met with two Blight twins’ faces on her own. Startled, she fell on her butt and to the ground.

“What the hell guys? Do you have to do that every time?” She asked annoyed.

“Of course we do,” Ed said, helping her up.

“Your room is just so conveniently placed that it makes it so easy to jump scare you!” Emira said with a mischievous smile.

“Is it just me or are you guys even more peppy than usual,” Amity asked, nodding to the huge shit-eating grins on the twins’ faces. “Does it have something to do with mom and dad not being home because then I understand?”

“You could say that.” Edric winked at Emira.

“Let’s just say that they’re in hiding.”

“Oh god, what did one of your pranks do this time?” Amity asked excitedly. Even though her siblings always ended up getting in trouble for them, their pranks always made Amity laugh and realize that even if her parents were as strict as they were, they could still be toyed with.

“See for yourself, sis” Emira thrust her phone into Amity’s hands. With a quick glance and a scroll, Amity’s eyes widened.

“You didn’t???” Amity asked. She didn’t believe it. On the screen was an Instagram photo of her and Viney kissing. The caption read: _Love is love and I’m done hiding it._ “HOLY SHIT EM”

“Uh-huh!! I did and you wanna know the best part?? Everyone is being hella supportive! Despite a few people but mostly everyone. And the homophobes are getting exposed.”

“As they should.” Edric made a point to say. 

“As they should indeed! I’m so happy for you Emira! So proud!!” Amity was smiling from ear to ear. Of course she was happy for her sister, but even more so, she was happy and relieved to see the response from her fans. She was relieved to realize that their parents no longer had control over them. They finally broke out and took a risk and now it’s paying them well. Their parents can’t do anything now without them showing explicit or clear homophobia towards their own children for all of their fans to see. It was a momentous win.

“This calls for a celebration. What do you say Am?” Edric yelled, pulling Emira in around her shoulder. He extended an arm to Amity but the girl shook her head.

“Sorry Ed, not tonight. Tomorrow is the last day of filming Wing it Like Witches and technically my last day filming this season. I’m exhausted from today and need to be at my best for tomorrow.”

“Understandable, just don’t work yourself too hard Amity. We can do something fun this- oh shoot wait no, we can’t. We have a meeting we have to go to… then next weekend it is!” Ed said with a smile. But Em pinched his cheek.

“You doofus, did you forget that her romantic rendezvous with Luz is next weekend?? Geez, getting in the way of girls loving girls.” Em raised an eyebrow to Amity. “Boys, am I right?” 

Amity laughed nervously through the embarrassment. She could have sworn this was the tenth time she’d blushed today, not thanks to Luz and her Grudeby outfit today. “It is _NOT_ a ‘romantic rendezvous’, it’s just a road trip!”

Emira pulled Edric by the cheek out of the room, waving over her shoulder as she exited. “Of course, of course, call it what you want, whatever makes you feel better sis.”

Amity wanted to scream into her pillow.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Amity wanted to scream out loud. But she was right in front of Luz so she couldn’t really do that. _Stupid Ed and Em, getting into my head._ Amity couldn’t stop thinking of the idea of her little getaway with Luz next weekend as some sort of romantic rendezvous. The way Emira had worded it made it sound so cheesy. They were just gonna hang out and drive out of town for some fun. That’s not so bad? Right? She was way too into her head that she didn’t realize that it was her turn to say a line in the scene she was currently filming. Her eyes refocused and found Luz’s wide and adorable eyes staring back at her. She felt the books in her arms and clutched them tighter for support. Her brain jumbled together her thoughts and the actual line into one and what came out was… well…

“L-luz! You look great today, wait- no- that’s not right- I MEAN that the line I just said isn’t right, you look great every day! Wait- shit- i did it again- Oh god this is gonna be another blooper isn’t it…” Amity groaned. “I’ve been talking for too long”

Luz giggled. “Well you got one part of the line right”

Amity covered her face in her books. Dana held up her megaphone. “Now I can’t believe I'm saying this but can we do that again but a little less gay? I love the energy Amity, but let's get the lines right so we don’t completely give away your huge ass crush on Luz, okay?”

Amity felt like she was going to die from embarrassment.

The next week was spent getting Young Blood, Old Souls filmed. Amity attended a few meetings, she had already gotten offers to be in a few small movies in the time The Owl House was on break for season 2. She would visit Luz during her lunch breaks and frequently hung out with her siblings when she could. It was weird not going to the studio every day. She almost forgot what it was like not to be working constantly. She would be lying if she said she wasn’t a workaholic. Luz always reminded her to take breaks and to not overload her schedule but Amity insisted that she was fine. Although it was stressful sometimes, she enjoyed the fun parts of her job. Like right now. She looked around at the other members of the cast of The Owl House and smiled to herself. They were holding a live stream to hype up the Grom episode that was supposed to air in two weeks.

“Hi everyone!! We’re just getting started and we’ll only be on for about a half an hour. We gotta get back to work filming the last episode.” Dana said happily as she held up her phone so the camera could see Luz, Eda, Alex, Willow, Gus, and Amity smiling back at it. “Start telling us in the chat how excited you all are for a double episode this weekend! Everyone say what your favorite part about either Really Small Problems or Understanding Willow was!”

Dana handed the phone to Alex first. “Both episodes were tons of fun to act in but Really Small Problems was an episode that I got to play around more with King as a character so I’d say that that is what I liked the most! Eda?”

Eda grabbed the phone, flashing a smile and a wink to the camera. “Hel-looo everyone! Some of my favorite lines for my character are in Understanding Willow, I can’t wait for you all to see it! I’ll give you a hint, ‘oh yeah, I put people in there’”

Luz snatched the phone from Eda before she could spoil anything too big for the episode. “I agree with you Eda, I really love Understanding Willow. Just like in the show, Willow is one of my best friends in the studio too! There are cool scenes, funny dialogue, and it explores some characters more and I am a sucker for lore.”

Then Willow was given the phone. She adjusted her glasses and gave a confident look to the camera. “All I will say is that I’m asleep for most of Understanding Willow but when I’m awake, boy do I get some juicy scenes. I haven’t seen what the special effects team has done to the footage but I can only imagine it’ll make it even more awesome than it is. So everyone should definitely tune in to watch the episode this weekend!”

Now was Gus’ turn who fumbled a bit holding the phone out of nervousness but with a shy smile and a flash of a pearly white smile, he became more comfortable. He saw the chat blow up with kind messages for him and his character in the show and that only made him feel better. “Understanding Willow _is_ a great episode, but Really Small Problems is probably the first time that my character got to interact more with King and so I really like it for that reason! What about you, Amity?”

“Well Understanding Willow is the episode I'm in so I guess that’s all I can say,” Amity smirked. “If I said anything else, it’d be a huge spoiler for the episode.” Even though her time on the camera was short, the response from the fans was ground shaking. When Dana took the phone back, she widened her eyes.

“Wow! I can see that Amity is a fan favorite. What about Luz? Are you guys more of a Luz or an Amity?”

“Are you asking them if they’re Little Miss Perfect?” Luz said, cutting into the screen.

The chat was growing and growing. Luz and Amity’s names were passed back and forth and mentions of Lumity were given in the place of choosing both. A lot of fans were happy to see that Luz knew about the LMP animatic too. 

“Well if you guys like Luz and Amity so much then I am 100% sure that you guys will _love_ Enchanting Grom Fright.” Dana teased. The hype had already begun for Grom. Everyone had seen the two girls in their formal wear in the hallway scene from the season 1b promo clips. Theories exploded in the chat about what the episode was about. People envisioned that Amity was an illusion, others thought it was a confession of love or a Gromposal, some thought it was a challenge between the two girls’ characters. It was interesting, to say the least when Luz and everybody around her knew what really happens in Enchanting Grom Fright.

One comment, in particular, caught Dana’s eye. “‘There is no heterosexual explanation for this’” Dana read aloud. “There really isn’t,” she said smugly. The cast’s jaws dropped. That was like dropping a bomb on the fandom and sure enough, the chat acted as the test field. Dana laughed it off and quickly changed the topic as everyone tried to continue the live stream without going further into what Dana had hinted at.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed! The final chapter will come out in 2 weeks. This week is finals week for me so I won't be able to write at all and next week is better for me to have more time to write this... very very gay road trip chapter. But before that, I need you all to put in the comments or dm me on Instagram:
> 
> What do you want to see next? Either, 
> 
> Maybe a few short one shots or a shorter story for Lumity (I've had ideas rack up in my brain over the course of writing the Actor AU)
> 
> or
> 
> A hiatus until my next longer fanfic is ready? Updates will be given through Instagram and reveals about the character designs will also be posted there as long as the title and AU that it is. It will be Lumity and The Owl House.
> 
> Let me know what you want!! Take care of yourselves and have a great day/ night!


	33. Chapter 33

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luz and Amity go on a road trip to San Francisco :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOLY SH*T I finally finished the last chapter! (Disclaimer: I apologize if there are typos)
> 
> There will be plenty of thank yous in the endnotes but I wanted to quickly give a thank you for waiting so patiently for this! This one chapter turned out to be OVER 13K WORDS AND BOY DID IT TAKE A LONG TIME TO WRITE ALL OF IT!! I know 13k is a lot for one chapter but I promise you it's worth it to read all of it! I had a lot of cute fluffy ideas and there wasn't anything I could cut out. If I had split it into two chapters then I felt it wouldn't feel right or flow well. SO HERE WE ARE!!
> 
> Grab your snacks, some water, and make sure to take breaks while you read! I hope you enjoy the last chapter of this season of the Actor AU ;)

The doors of the filming studio burst open and the harsh  _ tap tap tap _ of Luz’s sneakers against the LA pavement could be heard over the bustling traffic. Her coat flew behind her and her slightly grown out hair whipped across her forehead. She could grow it out now that season 1 of The Owl House was done with. The noises of LA rang through Luz’s ears loud enough that she couldn’t hear Eda frantically yelling at her to get in the car. Luz came to a skidding stop, the rubber of her shoes squeaking against the concrete beneath her. Some people passed by and gave her a curious glance. She twirled around and finally met the eyes of her stepmom.

“Why would we drive in this traffic when we can run?” Luz exclaimed with the purest smile on her face.

Eda sighed. “Luz I know you’re excited about your excursion tomorrow with Amity but running to your house across LA won’t get you to tomorrow nay faster than in a car.”

“Fine fine okay, you got me. I just have so much energy!” Luz yelled as she bolted towards Eda and almost knocked her over in a hug.

“Really? I couldn’t tell you.” Eda said sarcastically. Luz shot her a disapproving look. Eda rolled her eyes with a small smirk. “Honestly, you’d think you’d be more tired after working tirelessly on the last episode for the past two weeks. I’m just glad it’s Friday.”

Luz detached herself from Eda and started to walk briskly to the parking lot where the car was. “I guess you’re right, I should save my energy for tomorrow. I’m gonna be driving for a long time and I’ll need the energy to stay awake so I don’t crash the car.”

Eda followed closely after her, groaning at the fast pace her stepdaughter was walking at. “This is your first time driving alone for more than 2 hours, are you sure you’ll be okay?”

“You sound like your wife- wow, that’s weird to say now. Anyways, yeah I’ll be okay. I even looked at the weather! That  _ never _ happens. There’s supposed to be a storm but we’ll miss it by the time we set out on the road so don’t worry.  _ You _ should be worried about how you and my mom are spending your honeymoon weekend without me!”

Luz couldn’t help but giggle mischievously as Eda’s face grew redder. Luckily, they had now reached the parking lot and could finally be on their way home. “I  _ am _ worried… we aren’t even going anywhere. The wedding was small and she wanted something discrete. What’s she into?”

Luz buckled her seatbelt and laid a reassuring hand on Eda’s, which was gripping the steering wheel. “Well… when I was a little kid she used to take me to the beach and we haven’t gone since cuz we’re just so busy. But that’s  _ our _ thing. You need to think of something special for you guys!”

Eda’s hold on the steering wheel relaxed. She scoffed. “I’m assuming you’re taking your own advice for your date with Amity tomorrow?”

“Of course I am! Sort of. I have a lot planned and I just hope it all goes well. I think it’ll make her really happy and… if she's happy, then I'm happy.” Luz said softly, lightly clutching her shirt with the hand that wasn’t on Eda’s.

The car lurched backward while Eda backed out of the parking spot. As she turned to check out the back window, she ruffled Luz’s hair. “Ew, you guys are grossly adorable.” With a quick gear shift, Eda was out on the streets of LA coming home. “But I’m glad you found someone who makes you feel that way, Luz.”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Luz was already up before her alarm went off at 9 am. She watched as the numbers turned from 8:59 to 9:00 and jumped straight up when the sound of her favorite music played. She slid across her bedroom like she was in a quirky coming of age movie and adjusted her outfit. The cream-colored cotton shirt she wore on her back was wrinkle-free and the jean jacket she had overloaded with pins and buttons for the past 4 years sat comfortably on her shoulders. She smiled at the accessory she got from Amity at the escape room they had gone to. Memories flooded her mind and she took a second out of her energetic morning to admire the jacket. One last look and she decided to roll up the sleeves of the jean jacket as well as cuff her signature ripped black jeans. A small but chunky silver chain rustled against her hip as she attached it to the belt loops on her pants. One last sigh and she was off. Nothing was going to ruin this day.

Camilia had to physically sit Luz down to eat her breakfast. She was like a spaceship that was about to leave earth. She even had to remind her to put her shoes on which hasn’t happened since Luz was a tiny child. Even though it took a few minutes more than usual to calm Luz down, Camilia couldn’t stop the smile that spread across her face at how happy she was for Luz. For so long, she had been trying to regain that spark in her daughter. The one that had been stamped out and into the ground in the past. And finally, she found it again. It warmed her heart to see Luz as excited as she was and Camilia never wanted to stop her fun, only keep her from accidentally hurting herself.

Her daughter practically inhaled the cereal she had prepared for her. Although Luz felt like there was lightning coursing through her veins, urging her to blast through the door and to find her girlfriend, she was able to remember to put away the cereal box for her mom. It was the least she could do for her since Camilia had given Luz a large amount of money to spend on the road trip, lots of homemade snacks, and a map of all kinds of roadside attractions for Luz and Amity to have fun at.

After hugging her mom goodbye and reassuring her ten times that she would be safe on their two-day journey, Luz sprinted out the doors of her house. There, waiting for her on the sidewalk, was Amity. Luz suddenly felt underdressed at the sight of her. She was dressed in a rose-tinted cream-colored midi dress that stopped just above her knees. Her feet bore a pair of black ankle boots. Luz stopped dead in her tracks right in front of Amity. Her heart was beating out of her chest as she gazed at the cute girl’s face. Her makeup was light and her cheeks were stained with a cherry blush and gold highlight. Adorning her neckline was simple gold jewelry. She was beautiful. Luz noticed two blurs of green bobbing over her girlfriend’s shoulder and with a slight tilt to her right, she saw Ed and Em wiggling their eyebrows at the two of them. Amity had been dropped off by the twins so that she wouldn’t have to have her car parked at Luz’s house for the weekend. The downside was the two bumbling idiots doing their best to embarrass the poor girl. Luz found it charming though and simply gave the twins an approving nod. She looked back to Amity and lightly kissed her on the cheek.

“Are you excited?” Luz asked her.

“More than I’ve ever been!” Amity squealed. “Let’s get going, we want to miss the LA morning traffic.”

Luz held out her hand and Amity placed her own comfortably in Luz’s. A tight jerk caused Amity to stumble with Luz as the latter girl pulled them towards her car. Luz started in the driver’s seat and Amity took the passenger side. Soon, they were off, heading out of the boundaries of LA and towards San Francisco.

  
  
  


-

  
  
  


“Geez, I thought the traffic would be bad… but I didn’t expect  _ that _ bad!” Luz cried out.

The two girls were able to make it out of the city and onto a less congested freeway. It took them an hour which would have been surprising apart from the fact it was a Saturday at 10 am in Los Angeles. They were just happy to find some more movement. Luz, however, had plenty of entertainment complaining to Amity about the other drivers around them.

“Good thing we left early though, it’ll take us about 6 hours to get to San Francisco from here. And that without all the stops we’ll make along the way for food and fun. Speaking of, do we have a plan for that?” Amity asked, turning down the music she had been playing.

Luz looked over her shoulder to make sure there was no one coming up behind her in the lane to her left so she could change lanes. After making sure the coast was clear and they were safe, she smiled at Amity. “Nah, we’re kind of just going wherever we want as long as we get to SF at a reasonable time and don’t spend all of our money.” Luz heard the crinkling of a bag of chips and took her eyes off the road for just a split second to glance at what Amity was doing. “Hey! Save some for me! Aren’t you not hungry? Didn’t you have breakfast?”

Amity shrugged and continued to crunch the chips in her mouth. “Don’t worry, I’ll save enough. And no, I had breakfast like 5 hours ago.”

Suddenly, the car jutted to the right. Luz had yelled “what??” and didn’t pay attention to what she was doing with her hands. A shock of panic ran through her before she corrected where she was in her lane. The last thing she wanted to do was be the cause for Amity getting in another car accident. “That was at 5 am! What are you doing up that early??”

_ Crunch! _ Amity munched on another chip, just to annoy Luz. “I’m used to waking up that early because of filming.”  _ Crunch! _ Luz shivered and continued to try and concentrate on driving rather than the obvious plot against her that Amity was scheming with her loud chomping. “Also I was excited about our trip!”

Luz’s stomach rumbled and she gave the bag of delicious fried potato slices that Amity was holding a longing look. “Okay, understandable. I was up before my alarm this morning because I was excited too.” Amity finally gave in and fed her girlfriend a chip. Luz looked like a T-rex. She had her head reaching over her arm to bite into the snack since she had to use it to turn along the curve of the highway. “But geez, now I feel bad for all those nights I kept you up at night listening to music with me. You were probably only getting 4 or 5 hours of sleep!”

Amity scoffed. “Don’t feel bad. I always cherished those nights with you. They made me happy and I fell asleep peacefully. It didn’t even feel that bad when I woke up because I remembered how cute you sounded over the phone when you were sleepy.”

“Aw, you think my sleepy voice is cute?” Luz cooed. She snickered at Amity’s less than impressed response of rolling her eyes. It seemed she was used to Luz’s shenanigans and teasing.

“Yes dum dum, now focus on driving. I’ll put Hozier back on.” Before Amity could press play, Luz was already using the voice function on her steering wheel.

“Play ‘Prom Night’ by Anamanaguchi” Luz said.

“What’s this?” Amity asked as quick techno beats strummed through the speakers of the car.

“This is the song Dana is using to get people excited for Grom tonight! She told me that she wants to tweet about it and cause hype for the episode. She really likes to toy with the fans’ emotions doesn’t she?”

Amity listened closely to the lyrics. “Wow, this is more than explicit.” She laughed. “‘Lumity’ is gonna be trending on Twitter tonight, isn’t it?”

“Don’t tell the fans, but yeah, I saw them planning to get it trending when the episode drops,” Luz said.

“I mean, with how wild they got over Understanding Willow, I bet they would be able to trend it without even trying. I’ve never been in an as powerful fandom.” Amity kept bopping her head along to the music as it faded out.

“It’s really insane but I love it! Y’know… most of them are teenagers our age and queer. They’re gonna love the Grom scenes between us. Representation, y’know?” Luz shrugged for Amity to put on whatever song she wanted next. Low and behold, the sharp piano notes of Little Miss Perfect sang through the car.

Amity placed an excited hand on Luz’s shoulder, startling her as she drove. “Yeah! I’m glad people are getting to grow up with this and I’m even happier Disney is finally allowing some form of LGBT rep to be in their content.  _ Canon _ representation. And for characters who are minors!” 

The corners of Luz’s mouth couldn’t help but perk up at how bright Amity was smiling. Luz assumed that, from how Amity’s parents were and her busy schedule, Amity didn’t grow up on Adventure Time or The Legend of Korra that had queer representation. But she was right about the “characters being minors” part. Bubbline and Korrasami are both ships of older women and so plenty of people just sexualized them and associated that with the LGBT community. But now that Disney is putting out children who are going to be explicitly queer, it’ll normalize lesbian relationships in a much healthier way.

“Sorry about that, I was just happy,” Amity said shyly, taking her hand off of Luz’s shoulder.

“Am, don’t be sorry. You deserve to be happy!” Luz reassured her. “Grom will drop tonight and we’ll make history. You deserve to be proud of that!”

The smile that shone so brightly on her face didn’t falter as Amity nodded happily. She let out a contented sigh and listened to the music of Little Miss Perfect fade out.  _ Now _ she wanted to play Hozier so the two sang all the way to the next exit off of the freeway.

  
  
  
  
  


About half an hour later, Amity noticed a certain rumbling through the car. A low  _ gurgle _ coming from the driver’s stomach. She giggled a little and got the list of roadside attractions that Luz’s mom had given them. Luz was so focused on the road and belting out the lyrics to “Party in the USA” that she didn’t notice Amity pointing to a sign on the freeway.

“Get off at the next exit,” Amity said, shaking her finger a little more to try and grab Luz’s attention.

“Sure, but don’t we have a few more miles before we have to change freeways?” Luz replied.

“Yeah, but you seem hungry so I thought we could stop by a breakfast place for lunch.”

“Good idea, what kind of breakfast?” Luz asked curiously. She looked over her right shoulder for any incoming cars and changed lanes so she could get off of the freeway. Coming to a stoplight she noticed the area was thick with trees and was a fairly small town.

“It’s a make-your-own pancake or waffle place!”

Luz gave Amity a questioning look. “I’m assuming the batter has a lactose intolerant option?”

“Of course, you think your mom would have told us about a pancake place that wouldn’t have a lactose intolerant choice?” Amity laughed. “Don’t worry, it says they have all kinds of pancakes. Strawberry, chocolate, vanilla, and all kinds of toppings!”

Amity was practically licking her lips. She told Luz where to turn and soon enough, they were parked in front of a very cheesy log cabin looking building. Although it was summer, this breakfast place had a very wintery feel. As they walked inside a bell above them jingled, alerting the owners that they had customers. It didn’t look like many people were wanting pancakes or waffles at noon on a Saturday. The inside looked straight out of an 80s diner. A counter spread across the back with several bar stools for chairs and there were a few other small tables. Lining the walls were stations for each step of the pancake or waffle making process. First was a counter for the batter and the flipping stations or waffle making machines. Then a place for toppings and syrup. Finally, a separate counter for other breakfast foods like eggs, toast, or cereal.

The two girls walked up to the counter with a register and heard the squeaky shuffling of an older woman coming from the back of the building. She was hurriedly putting on an apron and adjusting her glasses. “Oh, what two beautiful young ladies!” She said in the cutest grandmotherly voice. Her hair was graying with white streaks and ran down her back in a small braid. “Welcome! Here you pay upfront for whatever you want, pancakes or waffles. You have a choice of how many toppings and sides you want too and they are just added to your payment when you’re done. As you can see, we have several stations so feel free to serve yourself and I’ll handle the payment. Enjoy!”

Luz and Amity thanked the old woman and walked over to the first station. While Amity prepared a pancake, Luz tried to figure out how to use the waffle maker.

“Ohhh you’re a waffle kind of person hm?” Amity inquired as she placed a glob of batter onto the flat heated tray for cooking. There were a few spatulas in a holder off to the side and so she grabbed one and carefully watched the pancake.

“Always have been, they’re the superior one in my opinion,” Luz said. She grabbed a ladle full of batter that had a milk substitute and poured it into the waffle maker. Closing the lid to have it cook she saw that she had put too much and now there was batter spilling over the sides. “Dang it!”

Amity giggled, taking her eyes off her pancake for a second to tease Luz. “Why do you think waffles are superior to pancakes if you’re having trouble making one?”

Luz hit the timer button and set down the ladle. She grabbed a few napkins and tried to clean up the mess she made but after one too many napkins, the old woman who owned the place told her she’d take care of it. “Well, they have little pockets that can hold the syrup or toppings and they’re crunchy!”

“Oh shoot-” Amity exclaimed. Her pancake had been on one side for too long and was starting to burn. She quickly flipped it over and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw it was only slightly burnt.

“So you like pancakes more? Even when you accidentally burn them? I feel like pancakes are easier to mess up.” Luz said, pointing at the burnt side. Her timer went off and so she opened the waffle maker revealing a perfect waffle. The excess batter had been cut off and made way for the crisp shape of the squares. Luz smiled in pride and approval.

With another flip, Amity placed her first pancake onto a plate. Then, with another dollop of batter, she began to cook the next one. “Well, yeah they  _ are _ easier to mess up. But they’re more forgiving than waffles. If you put too little or too much batter it doesn’t really matter and they don’t have to be perfect circles. And when you flip them, as long as they aren’t undercooked, you can have a fluffier or thicker pancake. Not to mention those cheesecake-like pancakes that are really bouncy. I’ve always wanted to make some but they require that you whip the whites of the eggs used in the batter. I’ve never had time.”

“Maybe that’s something we’ll have to do when we get back home.” Luz winked. 

After Amity finished making her second pancake, the two went to the toppings station. They both poured copious amounts of syrup on their meals and loaded all kinds of mostly unhealthy foods onto the tops of their pancakes or waffles. Luz in particular had the idea of putting whipped cream on her waffles and did not hesitate to stick her finger in some of it and spread it on Amity’s nose.

Although she was blushing, Amity decided to return the favor, and once again the girls were kindly warned by the nice old woman who ran the place to stop their antics. Luz and Amity quickly apologized and got some more napkins to clean their faces. Finally, they gathered some scrambled eggs onto their plates and a bit of french toast. They got a surprisingly good deal for all the food they acquired and made their way to find a seat in the establishment. Luckily, there was no one else eating so they had free reign to pick where they wanted to sit. Luz walked up to a two-person table off to the side of the room and draped her jean jacket over the back of her chair.

  
  
  
  
  


After eating and paying for their brunch, Luz and Amity got back into the car to keep driving towards San Francisco. This time Amity was driving. The two girls had agreed they’d switch every 2 hours of driving so that neither of them would get too tired and have it affect their driving so they could avoid accidents. Another hour and a half or so of driving and they found themselves wanting to stop by a small family-owned farm that had a petting zoo. They were both getting pretty cramped in the car and the snacks were only making them feel more groggy. They tried to liven things up by singing more songs or playing road trip games but that got old really quickly. Not wanting things to get too quiet and awkward, Luz convinced Amity to drive to the petting zoo on the basis that there would be bunnies. Amity had immediately figured out where the farm was and was speeding over to it like a madwoman.

They were on the outskirts of any big city and so they weren’t too concerned with hiding their identity. Not a lot of paparazzi out there like there is in LA or SF. It was 1 pm now, so Luz ditched her jacket in the car and walked to Amity who was staring at a small house in front of her. The patio was made of a gorgeous wood deck and had an old fashioned rocking chair in the corner in front of the window. The door had a sign hanging on it that read “Welcome in! Petting Zoo inside”. Amity pulled open the door and Luz followed her inside. A stout middle-aged man was standing off to the side of the main room. He was bent over with his rear pointed outward and seemed to be tidying the place up. The door had creaked when Amity had opened it so the stranger should have been alerted of their presence but he only called out “Oh! Marvin did you already check on the horses? I thought I heard them whining out in the stables.” 

Amity cleared her throat, getting the man to pop his head from up where it was cleaning and adjust his rectangular glasses. He chuckled. “You’re not my husband, sorry about that. Are you two here for the petting zoo?”

“Yep! We heard you had bunnies.” Luz said happily, nudging Amity in the side at the mention of the bunnies.

The man shuffled over to a hallway. At the end was a see-through glass door that seemed to lead out to the left-hand side of the surrounding field. “Right, right, they’re back here with my daughter. She likes to take care of them. We have two. But first, you’ll need to pay $20 for the entry” He said.

“20?? Why so much?” Luz exclaimed.

“It’s 10 dollars per person. 5 for a child but that’s 15 years old and younger.” Amity said. “Don’t worry about the money, we can pay.”

Just as Amity was walking over to give the man the money, a young girl knocked on the glass door. She looked to be around 10 or 11 and had dirt on her tan face. Her long dark brown hair was curly and had a few sticks in it. The overalls she wore were a size too big for her and so was the t-shirt under it. She was carrying a piece of carrot in her hand but upon seeing Luz and Amity, proceeded to drop it on the dirty ground. Her jaw dropped and she started to frantically bang on the glass door, eyes never leaving Luz and Amity’s.

The man giggled and opened the door for her. The little girl ran inside, practically toppling Luz over. Luz wasn’t that tall so the little girl’s head was slammed against her chest on impact. With a loud grunt, Luz hesitated to return the hug. She looked at Amity with the expression that silently read, “What do I do with this small child? Am I allowed to hug her back?”

“She’s clearly a fan, go for it,” Amity said in response. Luz lightly draped her arms over the girl’s shoulders and patted her back. Amity could tell she was nervous, not knowing how to act with the little girl’s father right there staring at her. Luckily, the man only gave out a hearty laugh.

“Ohhh, this makes sense. This is Grace, my youngest daughter. You two wouldn’t happen to be actors in  _ The Owl House _ would you?” The man asked.

“They are! They are! This is Luz and this is Amity!” The little girl exclaimed with joy. She wiggled a small finger at each of the girls as she introduced them to her dad and gave them a wide toothy grin. Turning back to the actors in question, she grabbed both of their hands and pulled them over to the glass door.

“Grace, they can go out on their own. What did we talk about grabbing people without their permission?” A voice called out from behind. Grace stopped before opening the door and glanced over her shoulder. Both Luz and Amity also turned to the direction the voice came from and saw a taller burly man with a beard crossing his arms and taking a firm stance. They felt their hands be released from Grace’s only to be taken and shaken by the bearded man. “Welcome! Welcome! My name is Marvin, this is my husband Desmond. And I'm sure you’ve met our daughter Grace by now?”

“Y-yes! We have it!” Luz stuttered. “She’s a very nice… um… girl.”

“Your daughter is a fan of a show we act in, sir. Called  _ The Owl House _ . It was a pleasure to meet her! If she wants a picture or anything we’d be happy to pose for one.” Amity said much more professionally. Despite her not interacting with her fans a lot in person, she had been plenty trained in how to communicate with adults and parents of other kids. She’d spent her whole childhood being talked about by them at her parent's parties, how could she not.

Marvin seemed to be impressed, much to Luz’s relief. “Yes, I would recognize your faces and wildly green hair anywhere. Grace loves to watch and rewatch every episode with me. We’re big fans!”

“We’re honored!” Luz said, a little more confidently this time. “We actually came by to see the petting zoo. Here are the 20 dollars for entry-” She said, gesturing to the money Amity had in her spare hand.

“Oh don’t worry about it! You’re making my little girl’s day so don’t worry about paying. As long as you give her an autograph.” Marvin interrupted.

“That’s really kind of you! Are you sure? It’s not that much money-” Amity started.

“We appreciate it! Thank you! Now, Grace can go take us to see her bunnies, right?” Luz cut in. She took Amity’s hand and smiled towards Grace who returned the favor. Skipping out past the door, the three of them made their way to a small shelter on the side of the house. Two bunnies were inside. One black with white spots and one a soft coffee color. Amity squealed at the sight of them, immediately asking if she could hold one. Luz smiled softly at her, standing off to the side and admiring how happy Amity was getting.

With the coffee-colored bunny in her lap, Amity yanked Luz’s arm to get her to sit down with her. Grace plopped the black and white bunny into Luz’s lap and then skipped off to get some treats for the animals. She wasn’t gone for long though because Amity and Luz didn’t get a chance to start a conversation before Grace sat down between them.

“So what your guys’ favorite colors? Who’s taller? Do you ever try to do magic like in the show? I’m really excited for the new episode tonight! Are you guys secretly witches? You would tell me, right? I’m really good at keeping secrets, I promise! Like I’ve kept the secret from my dads that you guys are dating! Oh well, I just told you so I guess it’s not a secret anymore.  _ Are  _ you two dating? Do you kiss??” Grace fired off about a million questions in just two minutes and both Luz and Amity had no idea how to process any of it. But what caught their attention is the mention of them dating which only sent them into a panic.

“Pink. Luz. No. No. We would. I’m sure you are.” Amity responded, trying to remember every question she asked or comment she made. “And um… we… aren’t dating,” Amity said slowly. It felt weird to say. Not just because she was saying it to a little kid but also because she and Luz  _ we're _ dating but haven’t been able to tell many people verbally.

“Purple. Me. Sometimes. Sadly no. We would.” Luz also replied. “And yeah, sorry kid but we aren’t together.”

Grace narrowed her eyes at Luz and Amity. Spinning her head around to look at both of them. It was quite silly but the girls were actually enjoying it a little. Although, they had stress bunnies in their laps to pet their nerves out. With a huff, Grace stood up and pointed at both of the girls.

“You guys are lying! I don’t like liars. You’re totally in love. You look at each other the way my bunnies do!” Grace said triumphantly.

Amity scrunched her brows together in disbelief. Never had she thought she’d ever be compared to a bunny in this context with her girlfriend? “But… we aren’t bunnies. We’re humans.” She said lightly, not wanting to crush Grace’s imagination and analogy.

“What’s the difference? If it’s love, then it’s love. And you guys totally give each other the lovey-dovey eyes” Grace clasped her hands together and started making immature kissing noises while puckering her lips.

Luz stood up and held the bunny in her arms. “Hey, Grace, what’s this bunny’s name?”

“Oreo!”

“And the one Amity is holding?”

“Coffee!”

_ Wow, predictable choice of names. _ Luz thought. “Okay, so how do Oreo and Coffee look at each other that makes you think they’re in love?”

Grace thought for a moment, putting a finger to her pursed lips. “Well, they stare at each other all the time and sometimes their noses twitch. I call it a love twitch.” She said, pointing at the bunnies looking at each other. Oreo’s nose twitched slightly and Grace smiled at Luz as if to say “See!”

Luz nodded. “That’s a good sign. But you know, there's more to love than that. Does Coffee ever help Oreo or cuddle with Oreo? And does Oreo ever protect Coffee from danger?”

Another pause to think. Grace tapped her foot and kept looking at Oreo and then turning around to look at Coffee, who was still sitting peacefully in Amity’s lap on the ground. “You know what, I think they do! Is that love too?”

“Yeah! Love can be a lot of things and it’s shown in a lot of different ways. Do you love anyone?” Amity started to stand up, gently holding Coffee in her arms. She smiled at Luz. Luz seemed to be more comfortable talking with Grace and even looked pretty good at handling younger kids and their shenanigans.

“I do! My dad and my other dad and Oreo and Coffee and our 8 chickens and the horses! Oh! Do you wanna see my horse?” Grace asked, lightly pulling on Luz’s shirt.

“I would love to see your horse.” And with that, Amity and Luz set the bunnies back down into their home and started to walk further out into the field with Grace.

  
  
  
  
  


Soon enough, they found a small barn. A few whines and neighs could be heard inside. Grace was quick to unlock the door and take one of the horses out. She brought it to Luz and Amity, who ran their fingers through the golden mane of the horse, and introduced it.

“This is Poppy!” Another name choice from the coloring of the animal. Poppy, short for poppyseed, was a white horse with black spots all over and a yellow mane. She was a little tall for how small Grace was but she was the perfect size for Luz or Amity. “My dads say that I can’t ride her yet since I’m still too young. But once I grow up, Poppy will be my horse and we’ll go on adventures together like I’m a knight!”

The innocence that radiated off of Grace while she talked about Poppy was contagious. Luz was sure to ask plenty of questions about Poppy to fuel her energy. Meanwhile, Amity was admiring the other horses. She read each of their names and gawked at how majestic they all looked. Some were big and strong, others seemed older and wiser. A few were thinner and younger.

“Hey Am! Look!” Amity was pulled out of her trance by the yells of Luz who was now straddling Poppy with Grace to the side smiling that wide toothy grin. “I’m a cowboy, will you be the haw to my yee?”

Amity burst out laughing. “That is just about the dumbest thing you’ve ever said.” She cried out between laughs. 

“Will yee?” Luz asked, holding out a hand for Amity to join her on the horse.

Amity walked up and took her hand. “It would be my haw-ner.” She said, giving in to the silliness Luz had instilled in her. She mounted the horse and wrapped her arms around Luz’s waist. Luz held Poppy’s reins up and struck a pose.

“Grace! Get a photo!” Luz yelled, tossing Grace her phone. But the sudden weight shift startled Poppy and with a scared  _ neeeiiigghhh _ , Poppy started stampeding out of the barn with no control. She bucked and writhed and whined desperately while Luz only tried to hold on for dear life. Amity was still wrapping her arms tightly around Luz’s waist. They were straying further and further from the farmhouse and Amity started hearing Grace’s screams for help from her dad's get less and less loud.

With each gallop, panic rose in Luz’s chest. She looked around frantically for anyone who could help or someone she could get the attention of but it was just grass and field for miles. A rock sunk in her stomach when she realized she had no idea how to stop the horse she was currently riding and she couldn’t just jump off because Amity was clinging to her. But just as she was beginning to worry, even more, Amity yelled in her ear “Give me the reins!”

Luz passed the leather ropes to Amity’s open hands by her waist and clung to Poppy’s thick neck for stability. Amity pressed herself against Luz’s back to try and see over here and with a professional whip of the wrist, started to guide Poppy to the left and back around to run back towards the farmhouse. Not that one problem was solved, she had to figure out how to stop Poppy. So Amity pulled the reins a little tighter and tighter until Poppy eventually started to slow down and came to a screeching halt, kicking up some grass and dirt from the ground, right in front of the farmhouse. Marvin and Desmond were standing outside with their mouths hanging open in shock. Grace was standing behind them, twiddling her thumbs in embarrassment.

“I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have asked you to get on Poppy.” Grace apologized as soon as Luz and Amity got down safely from the horse.

“Grace, don’t worry! It was scary but fun! I had no idea Amity could do that.” Luz said, a hint of adrenaline still in her voice.

“I used to take horse riding lessons. My parents paid for them while we were on a business trip to Europe.” Amity said nonchalantly. “I’m rusty so I wasn’t sure if I could pull it off.”

“Is there anything you  _ can’t _ do?” Luz teased, putting an arm around Amity’s shoulder and lightly ruffling her hair, messing up her ponytail.

Marvin and Desmond were taking deep breaths and reassuring Grace that it was just a mistake but to not do it again. They apologized again to Luz and Amity but the girls had no problem with the incident as long as no one got hurt. Amity brought Grace inside the house to take a photo with her and sign the t-shirt she was wearing, which happened to be merch from the Disney store for The Owl House. Marvin followed close behind while Luz and Desmond walked together, joking and laughing. Before they entered the house, however, Desmond stopped Luz.

“I heard what you said to Grace about love. Thank you for telling her all that, it was really well said.” Desmond said.

“Oh, it was nothing,” Luz said, trying to play it off cool. “I guess I just… know from experience.” Luz regretted saying that as soon as it came out of her mouth. But it just felt like the natural thing to say.

Desmond raised an eyebrow and glanced at one of the windows to the house. Inside they could see Amity bending down to sign Grace’s shirt with a sharpie. Desmond smiled knowingly. “You know, I agree with you that love is enough about actions as it is about words. Probably more about actions than words. So I’ll let you in on a secret. Just outside of San Francisco there’s this forest where people like to take night hikes right after sunset. There’s a tour guide and everything and at the end of the hike, you get to sit on a big boulder and watch the stars. Just a tip. Take it if you want it.”

Luz chewed the inside of her cheek. That sounded like a great idea and a very romantic way to end their first day of the road trip. Maybe Luz could even try doing the thing she had been wanting to do. “Thank you. We’re actually heading to San Francisco so that works perfectly! We’ll definitely check it out.”

Desmond gave Luz a warm smile and the two walked back inside the house so Luz and Amity could get back on the road. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


They were almost to San Francisco and it was already late afternoon. The address Desmond gave Luz was swirling in her brain. They would need to get to it before sunset so that they could be on time for the night hike. With a sigh, Luz tried to refocus on the road. She was brimming with anticipation. She recounted the places she had planned to take Amity to in San Francisco. A fancy restaurant for dinner and the hotel they wanted to stay at. Luz’s mind wandered off and thoughts buzzed about how happy Amity would be. The way her eyes light up and the creases of her smile lines. The joy that filled Luz’s heart to see her like that. How Amity perked up a little more and had a bigger pep in her step when she was happy and how it made her seafoam green hair bounce.

“LUZ!” Screamed Amity.

Luz blinked back into reality. She had been drifting out of her lane and heard the honk of a car behind her that she could have hit. Luckily, she quickly turned the steering wheel so that she’d go back into her lane and hit the gas a little harder. With a deep breath, Luz looked around her for more danger and found none. Sweat began to form on her forehead and her grip on the steering wheel grew tighter. Embarrassed, she looked away from Amity, pretending to check her mirrors.

“Luz, what was that? Are you okay? Do you want to switch?” Amity asked worriedly.

“I just zoned out. I’ll be okay, don’t worry!” Luz tried to reassure her. She chewed the inside of her cheek, trying to conceal her embarrassment.

“Do you need any food or water? I just want to keep you focused and not fatigued.”

Luz’s stomach grumbled. “No… okay maybe yes.”

“No problem, get off at the next exit and we’ll restock on snacks. I kind of hate them all.” Amity patted Luz’s shoulder with a wink. “There’s no rush to get to SF so take it easy if you’re not feeling well.”

“Right… no rush” Luz said quietly to herself. She followed Amity’s directions and changed lanes safely to the right so she could exit off of the freeway. There was a small grocery store where they could get a few more bags of chips, trail mix, and refill their water bottles. Luz parked quickly and seemed to rush into the store which was peculiar to Amity. Inside, Luz insisted they split up and find two or three snacks that they both like and meet at the checkout line. Luz dashed off into the chips aisle without hearing a word from Amity who was standing in the middle of the store wondering what she should look for first. 

In the chips aisle, Luz was browsing the different kinds and flavors of the selection. She saw barbeque and sour cream and onion. She wondered which one could be shared easily between them. Luz was always a barbeque potato chip kind of girl while Amity was more of a sour cream and onion flavored chip girl. Unable to choose, Luz ended up getting some cheddar cheese Ruffles instead. As she was going to exit the aisle, she caught sight of some baked plain chips. She wasn’t quite sure why, but she was suddenly taken back to when she ran into Bec. She remembered the comment Bec had made on the chips she was going to get and she wondered why all of her weird encounters happened in grocery stores.

Luz’s mind wandered from that thought and realized that the first encounter was when she met Amity. She realized that although she harbored bad memories of when Bec was problematic, she also had the memory of her and Amity’s meeting. She smiled to herself and walked past the baked chips. Next, she ran to the candy and chocolate aisle.

Meanwhile, Amity was looking through the drinks aisle. There was a lot of soda but she wasn’t feeling like a carbonated drink right now. After skimming past all the root beer and Dr. Pepper as well as Pepsi or Coca Cola, she found a bunch of teas and bottled juices. There was passionfruit juice as well as mango lychee juice. Some interesting teas she had never heard of too. Plenty of them was filled to the brim with sugar so she was finally able to find a semi-sweet bottle of cold tea with a hint of mango in it. Then she looked at the price.

“Geez, why are all the interesting teas the most expensive?” Amity muttered to herself. She sighed and decided to get it anyway. What was a little indulgence every once in a while? She was using her own money she had saved for this trip so she reassured herself that it was her choice what to do with it and if she wanted to get an expensive but fun tea then she could and would. She also grabbed some pocky which somehow was in the same aisle. Then, she thought to herself that milk would be really good with the chocolate covered breadsticks she just picked out. So she started to make her way over to the dairy section.

While scanning for lactose-free milk for Luz, she felt a hand tap her on the shoulder. When she turned to face the person, an arm pressed against the glass of the dairy section’s refrigerator door. Amity giggled to herself. In front of her was Luz leaning against the glass smirking at her.

“Excuse me, stranger, you don’t happen to have some lactose-free milk do you?” Luz asked jokingly.

“I actually do. You know, I’m getting a sense of deja vu here. Do I know you, cute stranger?” Amity shot back, playing along with Luz’s antics.

“I feel the same way, but if you’d like you could get to know me.” Luz removed her arm from the glass window and took Amity’s hand in her own. She leaned in and gave Amity a quick kiss on her forehead and then started to walk away. “I think you already have my number so I should be on my way pretty stranger. I have an audition for a kids Disney show to go to!”

“Wait! Hey! Luz get back here!” Amity yelled, holding the tea, milk, and pocky in her arms, trying not to spill.

“What was that? How do you know my name? Have you been stalking me??” Luz asked. She was being very silly and only kept jogging through the grocery store and away from Amity. Laughing, Amity chased after her, catching her and hugging her so she couldn’t escape again. “Okay okay you got me, I  _ do _ recognize you… as my new girlfriend!”

Luz started to try and pepper kisses on Amity’s face annoyingly, to which Amity swatted and sputtered, trying to get away. “Oh my god!” Amity said between laughs. “Stop it haha stop ahh that tickles!”

After the pair were done fooling around, they returned to the car. Even though Luz insisted she felt better enough to drive, Amity made sure she was the one getting into the driver's seat.

  
  
  
  


Now they were only an hour away from entering San Francisco. Their journey had been fun and filled with plenty of rest stops to interesting roadside attractions. In Amity’s mind, she was prepared to get to the hotel and be able to rest. She would be lying if she said she wasn’t getting a little carsick. She noticed Luz had her arm resting on the windowsill of the passenger side of the car and was looking out at the passing land. The sun was setting and the sky was turning into a beautiful cyan color. The air grew a little colder and some darker clouds rolled in. Amity and Luz were too focused on the road to notice the cyan sky turning a murkier gray. Amity looked over to Luz, wanting to say something. Soft lo-fi music was playing on the aux from Luz’s phone. It was the playlist they always listened to during their late-night calls.

“Hey Luz-” Amity started.

Luz jumped up in her seat. Her eyes widened and she quickly pointed her finger to a sign off the road. “Am! Get off at the next exit!”

“W-what? Why??” Amity asked, startled by how passionate Luz was.

“Just trust me, it’s a surprise,” Luz said. She looked over to Amity and gave her a wide smile. Amity’s heart beat a little faster. She could tell from the fire in Luz’s eyes that she should trust her. So with a smile and a roll of her eyes, she exited the freeway for the tenth time today to stop at one last spot. The fact it was a surprise made it even more intriguing to Amity. “You’re gonna love it!” Luz exclaimed as they rode into the parking lot of a forest.

The road turned to dirt and there were big tall trees all around them. The only light came from the setting sun and a few lanterns hung up on some of the branches to show visitors the way. All of the parking spots were marked by a log and lines in the dirt. Once the girls had parked and gotten out of the car, they were greeted by a park ranger who asked them to check in with the entrance to get in. They each paid $20 to get in and an extra $10 for the night hike with the guide.

As the girls walked down the path together to meet the rest of the night hike group, Amity nudged Luz in the side. “So this was the surprise?”

Luz put a hand up to her neck awkwardly. “Yeah… do you like it?”

“Depends how good the view is,” Amity said with a wink. She took Luz’s hand and pulled her along the trail to a group of people in a clearing. One of the people in the group was wearing a park hat and so it was obvious that the person was the tour guide. Once Luz and Amity showed up, the tour guide said, “Ah, just in time. We’re about to start our night hike.”

  
  
  
  


As the golden sun ducked beneath the distant mountains and its warmth was stolen away with it, a beautiful flurry of stars replaced it in the dark blue sky. The group trekked up beaten dirt roads, marveling at several beautiful flowers and plants along the way. Critters ran across the path, their tiny nails making a small scraping sound against pebbles, to turn in for the night. Nocturnals crept out of their dens to bask in the rising moon’s glow. Luz and Amity stayed close to the rest of the group, holding each other's warm hands to combat against the night breeze. They felt their noses and ears grow cold as the air was more chilly and they giggled at the red building on the skin from it. This was not the best time to not wear a jacket for Amity and Luz to only have a rough jean jacket covered in metal buttons and pins as protection for her short-sleeved and thin shirt. Nevertheless, the girls had a wonderful time listening to the noises of nature around them and watching the nighttime plants and animals come alive. The dark leaves of the trees above them covered the view of dark murky clouds growing closer, blocking out the light from the stars and engulfing the sky in ominous shadows.

By the end of their journey, which only lasted 45 minutes to an hour, the group had made their way to a clearing overlooking the city of San Francisco. By now, the sun had completely set and all that was in its place was a faint radiation of orange from the horizon. The view reminded both Amity and Luz of the setting for the Grom dance which would be airing in only 2 hours for the world to see. The thought would have made them both queasy at the stomach from nervousness if the bright lights of SF before them didn’t wash that fear away. The group got a chance to rest from their hike and could spend as long as they wanted under the stars. Luz laid her jean jacket out on the ground and let her and Amity lay on it so they wouldn’t get grass and dirt on their clothes. With a content sigh, they stargazed together.

Luz pointed to the big dipper and Amity flexed her knowledge of astrology. The night was quiet and was a wonderful gift. Everything felt peaceful and the two girls never wanted it to end. They both sat up to admire the view one more time. Luz placed her hand on Amity’s and turned to look at her. Her lips curled into a smile, heart beating faster and faster. Nervous butterflies flew in her stomach and her throat twisted into a knot of nervousness.

“This was wonderful, Luz… thank you,” Amity said softly.

“Of course Amity, I’m glad you liked it. You don’t need to thank me, I just like to see you happy.” Luz said, lightly squeezing the green-haired girl’s hand.

“And I like to see you happy too.” Amity stared directly into Luz’s eyes with so much emotion that Luz felt like she might melt. A blush started to creep its way up each of the girl’s faces. They shared the same thought and were hesitant to act upon them. An awkward silence filled the air as Luz slowly leaned forward just a touch. She got ready to close her eyes and her lips parted just a bit. Amity was holding her breath, her mind racing.

_ Drip _ …  _ plip! _

Luz opened her eyes at the sensation. Instead of feeling the warmth on her lips she instead felt a single raindrop roll down her forehead and sit on her nose. She crossed her eyes to stare at it and quickly moved her head away from Amity in embarrassment. Amity stared up into the sky. The stars had vanished and all that was left was darkness and a rumble in the sky. Raindrops began to fall to earth, covering everything in cold wetness. Luz and Amity scrambled to their feet, the moment they shared interrupted by the sudden rainfall. Luz got her jacket over both of them fast and they sped away, trying not to slip as the ground became more slippery and muddy. Their shoes were getting ruined but it looked like the storm wasn’t calming down any time soon and they had to get back to the car.

“Wouldn’t the night hike guide know about the rain??” Amity yelled while she and Luz dashed back down the dirt path to the parking lot.

“I think we stayed too long at the outlook!” Luz yelled back.

They reached the car just in time before hearing thunder rumble the ground beneath them. A flash of light came from their left and they realized the lightning had hit just a few miles from them. In a panic, Luz jumped in the driver's seat and, with Amity riding passenger, started to drive as fast as she could away and towards San Francisco.

“Geez, I thought the storm would miss us!” Luz exclaimed as she frantically drove. In her head, she was embarrassed that she didn’t watch their time more. The storm caught up to them because they spent a lot of time at the places they stopped at and she forgot about that piece of information. If they hadn’t gone to the night hike they might have missed it and gotten to San Francisco by now. They wouldn’t be semi-wet in her car and unhappy. At least that’s what Luz thought Amity was. Amity was just worried about Luz driving because she was quite worked up.

“Luz don’t worry about it, we’re okay, a little water is nothing… but please tell me you’ve driven in the rain before” Amity inquired, slightly worried for her answer.

“I haven’t but it shouldn’t be that hard right?” Luz said, trying to sound confident through her even deeper embarrassment. However, it was definitely harder than she thought it would be. Her headlights made the rain make her vision blurry and it harder to see the road. Not to mention the watery roads were more slippery and going fast could cause her to hydroplane. The thunder and lightning did not help either since the noise made Luz more frantic and the flashes of light obscured her vision more. “Shit!” Luz yelled, trying to keep her control over where she was on the road.

“Pull over somewhere and I can drive, Luz! I’ve driven in the rain before!” Amity yelled to Luz. Her voice held a little more fervor than before and had a hint of uncertainty and fear in it. Luz’s heart dropped, believing she was disappointing Amity. She looked for anywhere to pull over and eventually turned the wheel to pull over. Suddenly, the wheels screeched and a huge splash went up against the side of the car. The tires slipped and the car was barreling sideways into the side of the road. Both Amity and Luz tried to protect each other by placing their arm across the other one’s chest to keep them back from the glass of the front window or hitting their head on the dashboard from the force.

The car came to a stop and the airbags inflated with a  _ poof! _ Panting, Luz couldn’t believe they were alive. Amity had her eyes wide in shock. Luz bit her lip nervously, “Amity? Are you okay? Did you get hurt?” She asked worriedly. She tried to shake Amity’s shoulder or hold her hand but Amity quickly crossed her arms and held herself, breathing harder and her pupils dilating. Tears started to form in her eyes and she realized her body was responding to the fear from the car accident she was in just a few months ago. When Luz realized this she reached over to envelope Amity in a hug.

“Amity, please…” Luz said shamefully. “I-I’m so sorry, I was just panicking and I shouldn’t have been so reckless, please, you’re okay, you’re safe” Luz felt Amity’s shoulders slowly release their tension and in her ear, she could hear Amity start to breathe normally again. Luz let go of the hug for a second to try and look at her face but Amity held her tightly, arms now wrapped around her body as if Luz were her lifeline.

“It’s ok Luz… it’s ok, don’t blame yourself” Amity said quietly, shakily. “What's the damage?”

Amity let her let go of the hug to look out of the front window. It looked like they had crashed into something in front of them and it busted up the front of the car. Upon trying to see if the car would still drive, Luz realized it wouldn’t. “Damn it… I- I’m not really a car person so I’m not sure what's wrong. We should call somebody to help us… we still need to get to San Francisco too so we need to call a cab.” Luz opened up her wallet to check how much money she had left and cursed to herself. If she used everything her mom had given her she still probably wouldn’t have enough to cover the damage of the car, the tow, and a cab ride to the hotel. Thoughts started to whirl in her head again but they dissipated when Amity placed a comforting hand on Luz’s shoulder.

Amity held up her own credit card. “I’ll use what I have left.”

“Amity! No, I’d drain you!” Luz said guiltily.

“ _ You’re _ not draining me. We still need to get back home, what? You think I’m not gonna help repair my only ride home?” Amity smirked. “Don’t worry about it.”

Luz tried to smile but the guilt was eating at her. They called everyone they needed to call and discussed how much money it would take them. After some grueling math, Luz made sure to try and save some money for the restaurant she wanted to take Amity to in the city. The rain fell hard and felt defeated for the girls as they got out of the car and into a cab. They watched the car be towed towards the city to get repaired and they watched the money in their pockets be drained from a clumsy mishap. As they rode to the outskirts of San Francisco, watching the Golden Gate Bridge as the car entered its domain. The view wasn’t grand like how they thought it would be. The crushing feeling of what had just happened stole the words from their mouths and the happiness from their hearts. They both looked out opposite windows, only staying connected by holding hands over the middle seat. The cab driver was wordless and stern.

After departing from the bridge, Luz glanced at the machine tracking how much the ride would cost. Her jaw hung open and her eyes bulged out. “U-Um, sir? Please let us off here actually! We’ll walk the rest of the way!”

They scrambled out of the car and Luz felt her heart drop when she saw the last of her money be given to the cab driver. She groaned and grabbed Amity’s hand, storming away and pulling her along.

“Luz, it’s ok” Amity tried to say reassuringly. She furrowed her brows, sad because Luz was obviously upset. “Let’s just get to the hotel-”

“The hotel is deep into SF” Luz said bluntly. “It’d take us like an hour. And we don’t have any more money for a car.”

“That’s okay, I’m fine with walking if it’s with you,” Amity said softly. She walked a little faster and wrapped her arm around Luz’s. “I know what you’re thinking and I just want to tell you it’s not your fault. Today has been wonderful.”

Luz just kept walking, not being able to look at Amity. She tried to focus on her steps.  _ Heel, toe… heel, toe…. Heel, toe… _ Luz suddenly felt her arm get tugged backward. She realized she was about to cross the street without hitting the button for the crosswalk. A car zoomed past her, the air whipping her hair across her face. She finally looked back at Amity who had the most worried expression on her face. Luz sighed. “I wanted to take you to this fancy restaurant but now we don’t have enough money. And that wouldn’t have happened if I paid more attention to the road or had you drive. We would have missed the rain completely if I hadn’t taken you to the hike.”

“But we loved the hike and it was worth it wasn’t it?” Amity said. Luz huffed, reluctantly agreeing. “Let’s just clear our heads. How are  _ you _ feeling?”

“Tired…”  _ gurgle _ “Hungry…” Luz said, clutching her stomach. 

Amity giggled. “Well, then we should get some dinner. I don’t have enough to buy us anything but we can try and make something?”

“With what?” Luz asked.

Amity held up one of the two bags she had taken from the car before it was towed. The other one had their clothes for the next day and pajamas. “Your mom packed mozzarella cheese sticks, tortillas, and some vegetables in here that we could snack on but never ate. I’m thinking taco night?”

Luz’s eyes lit up. “That’d be awesome! But… where are we going to make it? We have to get to the hotel first…”

Amity rubbed her neck awkwardly. “I actually… know a person with an apartment here. She’s on a business trip right now so she might let us crash at her place…”

“She??” Luz exclaimed. With a second thought, she quickly pushed down her suspicions. She trusted Amity. There's no way-

“Yeah… remember that girl who tried out for your role in The Owl House? Sophia? I… kind of used to date her…” Amity said nervously. “She doesn’t live with her family and has an apartment just a few streets down… I think I remember where she hides the spare key. I should probably call her to make sure she’s ok with it.”

Luz sucked her lips in and set her jaw. Trying to restrain her mind she nodded. Jealousy had no place right now, and if this girl could give them a place to stay, then it’s ok. Amity dialed in a number to her phone and put it to her ear. Giving Luz a nervous glance, she heard the pending ring end and a voice ask on the other side, “Hello?”

“Hey, Sophia… I’m kind of stranded in San Fran and I need a place to stay. Can I crash at your apartment for the night?” Luz couldn’t hear what Sophia was saying on the other side but telling from Amity’s expression, it was questionable. “Fine, but nothing crazy.” And with that, Amity hung up the phone and turned to Luz. “This way.” She said, pulling Luz with her.

“What did she say?” Luz asked carefully.

“She said we could… but I owe her a favor now,” Amity said.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


After a short and tiring walk, winding through the streets of San Francisco which were surprisingly different from LA, the girls found themselves riding the elevator up to Sophia’s old apartment on the third floor. Amity found the spare key hiding cleverly under a chipped piece of wall from Sophia’s instructions. With a  _ click _ , Luz and Amity stepped into the room. It was slightly cold and a little deserted. The furniture in the apartment was decorated with modern and minimalist decor. The walls harbored simple paintings of beaches, flowers, and dancing figures. It was very clear that no one was home and no one had been home for a few weeks. The floors were bare and not messy or crowded with belongings. The girls ventured into the only bedroom. The spare bedroom had been made into a storage area. The bed was neatly made and smelled like it just came from the laundromat. The dresser drawers held a few clothes but most had been taken with Sophia on her trip. There was a small balcony overlooking the street below and a few dying plants.

There was one bathroom that had been cleaned of hair products and hygiene products. The traces of Sophia were small and unnoticeable. Luz and Amity each took turns changing out of their damp clothes and into dry pajamas. Then, they met back up in the kitchen to make the tacos.

Amity set all the ingredients out on the counter and found some plates they could eat on. She made a mental note to clean everything up as much as she could as a thank you to Sophia for letting them stay there. Luz had already grabbed a tortilla and started to pile cheese, vegetables, and they also found some beef jerky to put on as well. She wasn’t quite sure this would taste the best, and it definitely didn’t compare to the fancy dinner they would have had. That pang of guilt hit in her chest again when she finished her taco and went to heat it. While she was watching the cheese melt, she felt two pale and skinny arms wrap themselves around her waist. “Yeah Am? What's up?”

Amity buried her head into the back of Luz’s neck. She sighed, breathing hot air against Luz’s skin. “I just wanted to hug you and thank you again for today. I don’t get a lot of breaks, but this was really special because I got to hang out with you  _ all day _ ! And no matter what you think, you didn’t ruin it. I had the most fun today I've had in a long time.”

Luz finished heating her taco and placed it to the side, spinning around and wrapping her own arms around Amity’s waist and pressing a soft kiss to her forehead. “Thank  _ you _ , I’m really glad you enjoyed it despite how the day ended. But you sure this is the  _ most _ fun you’ve had?” Luz twirled Amity around and pulled her into a dancing position. “Does it top our Grom dance?”

Amity snickered. “It comes close! Speaking of, do you want to watch the episode? I think it’s airing right as we speak.” Luz nodded and she and Amity found the one tv in the room. They hastily figured out how the remote worked and was able to find Disney Channel. Conveniently, the episode was only halfway through. On-screen was Amity and Luz preparing for the Grom fight in the hallway outside the gym. They sat together on the couch and ate their tacos while making disgusted faces at the saltiness of the beef jerky. They gave each other a look that said, “that was probably not the best idea to put as the meat”. But they were so hungry that they finished their tacos quickly, just in time for the Grom fight on the cliff to begin. Luz stood up, making Amity confused at first. She held out a hand.

“Well if that’s settled, may I have this dance?” Luz said along with the episode playing on the tv.

Amity smirked, taking Luz’s hand. “You do know we probably won’t have enough room for the throw?” She said, getting ready to dance the dance they had rehearsed a million times over.

“We’ll just have to improvise,” Luz said with a wink. The music started and just like every time they’ve rehearsed this dance, they stayed connected by hand, twisting and twirling. Dancing around the apartment and during the throw, freestyling a small dance for each of them to mimic how they aren’t connected at that moment. But they always come back together, hand in hand again and panting slightly from the physical exertion of the dance. They laughed at each other by the end, not paying attention to the episode anymore.

“So, who were you gonna ask out?” Amity asked, playing along with the role reversal. She nudged Luz in the shoulder a little bit playfully.

Luz took her hand and stared deeply into her eyes. Feelings felt like they were filling up her heart and threatened to spill over and crash out like a dam breaking. “Amity Blight.” She said grandiosely.

Amity looked down at their hands and smiled to herself. “Yes? Luz Noceda?” 

Luz reached to her side and turned off the TV. Amity was once again confused by Luz’s actions but caught on when she used her phone to start playing the waltz music from their Grom dance rehearsals. “Care to help me practice my waltz?”

Amity only nodded and they were swaying to the music. Closing their eyes, they relished the moment. Soft PJs and softer hearts. The slow  _ plink _ of piano notes crescendoed into a grand chord. They traveled around the main room of the apartment like that. Dancing to the music. Amity rested her head on Luz’s shoulder. “I can’t help but feel a bit of deja vu.”

Luz nestled her own face into Amity’s shoulder. Every time she spoke, the movements of her mouth tickled the skin at Amity’s neck. The moment was so tender and sweet. Both girls never wanted it to end. “I’ll never forget that day. It was just one dance practice out of many, but the way we waltz was… special.” Luz said under her breath.

Amity giggled against Luz’s shoulder. They kept swaying, bodies close together, and clinging to each other. “Because I’m such a great waltz teacher, right?” She said jokingly.

Luz lifted her face to look at Amity. The green-haired girl also lifted her head, feeling the weight of Luz’s leave her shoulder. They stared at each other. Amity looked curiously and Luz looked seriously. Her heartbeat harder and suddenly the dam broke. “No… because I think that was the moment I realized I was in love with you.”

Amity’s eyes widened a little bit. Her lips parted a bit in shock at the declaration. “You… you love me?” The music was dying down now and the couple stopped swaying.

Luz was holding her breath. All the nervousness of the day couldn’t compare to this moment. “I do.” She said confidently. She knew she was in love with Amity and she knew she loves Amity. It was something that had been on her mind ever since they got together in that hospital room. A hint of fear crawled into her head at the thought of Amity not reciprocating those intense feelings. After all, it means so much to just like someone. But to love someone is a very big step and takes a lot of thought and emotion and truth. “Sorry… was that too fast-”

Suddenly Luz felt a warmth on her lips. It was soft and subtle and only stayed for a millisecond but it snapped her mind awake like a shot of espresso. By the time Amity pulled away, Luz already missed the feeling and brought her hand up to touch her lips. Somehow, her body acted on its own as if it was trying to hold onto that feeling. That kiss.

Amity smiled, the crinkle of her eyes sending butterflies to Luz’s stomach. That smile could kill her a thousand times over and she wouldn’t ever complain. “I love you too,” Amity said confidently. She let out a contented sigh. “Gosh, I wanted to do that at the night hike but the stupid rain interrupted us!” She exclaimed.

Luz dropped her hand from her mouth. It was impossible to not smile once her brain processed what had happened. “Me too! B-but you have to give me some warning! I wasn’t ready!”

“Are you ready now?” Amity teased, raising an eyebrow and leaning into Luz’s face.

“Yes.” And for the second time that night, the two connected not by their hands but by their lips. This time for longer, savoring in the bliss that is sent to both of their hearts. The feelings of their intense feelings were reciprocated. Every fear and happiness that came from the feeling of love was shared. They both raised a hand to rest on each other’s cheeks. Their eyes were closed and their bodies relaxed. They stayed like that for a bit before slowly releasing from each other. Smiles plastered across their faces.

“That was nice…” Luz said shyly.

“Just nice?” Amity smirked.

“Amazing really.”

“Like nothing I’ve ever experienced.”

“God… I love you.” Luz said abruptly. “I love you…. I love you, I love you, I love you” The three words rolled off of her tongue over and over, inciting many “I love you too”s from Amity and a few giggles when Luz picked her up by the waist.

It took them ages to get to bed after that. They were entranced by each other and blissfully happy. The raw energy that came from that was like a dip in a cold pool of water. It jolted them awake and soon they were having a dance party at nearly midnight. The dust and dirt from the day as well as the strain seemed to fall away as the two girls simply enjoyed each other’s company. They danced all the way to bed and somehow got to sleep. Not without them being entangled in each other’s arms and legs, holding each other comfortably as they fell asleep. The adventures of tomorrow blessing their dreams.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


“Luz! Luz Noceda!”

“Amity Blight, SF Chronicles would like to hear your opinion!”

“Are they up there? We just want to hear your response!”

“What are your thoughts on the episode ‘Enchanting Grom Fright’?”

“Was the LGBT representation in the episode a reflection of your own relationship?”

“How do you feel about the people rejecting the show because of the dance?”

“How does it feel to be Disney’s first confirmed gay character?”

Luz awoke groggily to the sound of reporters below their balcony. The light of the window hurt her eyes and her mind wasn’t fully awake to process what was happening. All she could figure out in her head was that she no longer felt Amity in her arms in the sheets of the bed. She sprang up awake, looking around wildly for her girlfriend. Her eyes focused on Amity leaning against a wall in her day clothes. Blue jeans, cuffed, black converse, a Led Zeppelin black t-shirt, and an army green bomber jacket over it. She was staring at the balcony ominously and her arms were held taut around herself.

Luz quickly got out of the bed and rushed to put her own clothes on. An acid wash navy blue t-shirt, black cargo pants with a chain hanging between two belt loops along with a simple studded black belt, and a pair of one-inch tall boots. She first went to Amity to make sure she was okay and to reassure her against the press’s insistent push. Then she walked out to the balcony and looked down at the sea of cameras pointed in her face. With a huff, she walked back over to Amity and out of view.

“How did they even find us?” Luz asked angrily. She didn’t expect an answer, she was just astonished. She took a deep breath to quell her rage. “If we go down, they’ll still be there to get to us. We don’t have our car to drive away in either. Avoiding questions might make the rest of the team look bad too.”

Amity bit her lip. “Then we’ll answer their questions on the balcony.” She quickly pulled Luz’s arm out to the balcony and stood in front of the reporters. Questions were thrown at them every which way. Amity’s head was racing, adrenaline-fueled her, and blocked out anything else. She was wide awake and sick and tired of the questions and most of all, of hiding. She turned to Luz and whispered to her. “Can I kiss you?”

“Right now?!?” Luz asked wildly. She was shocked at the question but nodded her head in agreement when she saw the fire in Amity’s eyes.

The crowd of reporters fell silent. Amity pulled Luz towards her and crashed her lips against hers in a bold display for the reporters. Camera shutters went crazy and once the girls pulled apart and left the balcony, even more questions were thrown their way. Once they had gathered their things and called a car to pick them up at the apartment, they took a second to prepare to leave. Amity squeezed Luz’s hand in her own.

“Sorry about how sudden that was. I want to say something to them.” She said.

Luz gulped. “Um… I didn’t know you wanted to announce our relationship like this. You’re lucky you kiss well.” She had no idea Amity could get like this. Something definitely ignited in her now that the Grom episode was out. Amity pulled her along and out the door. They fought their way through the many reporters waiting for them and were able to get to the taxi car. Luz got in first and before Amity got in, a reporter shoved a microphone in her face.

“Amity! Was that a confirmation of you and Luz dating?? Are you aware of the uproar the recent episode has caused? Are you ashamed to play a gay character? Are you gay yourself?” Yelled the reporter.

Amity didn’t care who that reporter belonged to or who they were. She was fed up with how personal the questions had turned. She glared at the reporter and leaned into the microphone. “Whether or not Luz and I are dating should not matter. If we are gay or not should not matter. We are just actors in a show for all ages and all people who want to feel seen, represented, and heard.” She spits out. Without a second thought or another word out of her mouth, she ducked her head into the car and slammed the door. The car drove away and the girls were finally free of the press. Amity took a big breath of relief and turned to Luz who had her jaw hanging open.

“What?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BOY OH BOY WAS THAT A RIDE!! (Pun intended ;) )
> 
> First of all!! I will most likely continue the Actor AU for Season 2 of The Owl House when it comes out! I'll write it closer to when season 2 ends though so I can have a good grasp on the timeline for them filming episodes so expect a very long hiatus on the continuation of this fic. But if you're intrigued by some of the plot points in here that I didn't resolve and also how Beta Luz and Amity will fit into the story as well as more of Bec and her redemption... stay tuned! As always I'll update what I'm writing or when I'm writing and releasing chapters on my Instagram at @/keysstylus !!!
> 
> This fic has been a crazy wild ride and I am so glad that so many of you love the story! I have met some amazing people from writing this fic and I just want to give a huge thank you to everyone who read until the end! I hope you stick around to see what else I write or draw and the ideas I have in the future! Thank you for the funny comments that made my bad days better and thank you for reaching out over my Instagram dms to share your own experiences! I never expected this story to be this long or this in-depth so thank you for sticking with me! But until we meet again, or when I write my next fic or draw my next art piece... 
> 
> Stay safe! Have fun! Smile! Drink water! Eat some food! Get some more sleep! Take care of yourselves and have a good day/ night/ afternoon! Oh! And Happy New Year ;) 
> 
> \- Key <3

**Author's Note:**

> So I am not sure if you would enjoy longer chapters like this. I have A LOT of ideas for behind the scenes kind of stuff based on each of the episodes and that can be really long. There will probably be a lot of chapters. I plan to have a lot of pining happen between Luz and Amity that's about the level of the episode they are shooting. So for example at the beginning of the series, there's less but slowly they realize they like each other and by WiLW... well you'll have to see ;) Aside from the cute funny behind the scenes stuff there will be an underlying plot that will be implemented a few chapters in to give it a little bit of fLaVoR. 
> 
> Anyways, leave your thoughts in the comments! Longer chapters about the length of this one? Or shorter ones, about half the length? The amount of interaction I get with this will probably determine how fast I get the chapters out.
> 
> My twitter and Instagram are Keysstylus if you want updates and art


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